[amthewiz]

People go their entire lives without knowing what it is like to go without food for a day. They take it for granted.

Also, I believe parents generally don't teach kids to respect food. It probably starts by letting a toddler feed him/herself too early and in the process normalizing food wastage.

There is also a first world etiquette of leaving some food in the plate. I have seen people habitually do it.

[vonmoltke]

> There is also a first world etiquette of leaving some food in the plate. I have seen people habitually do it.

Really? Growing up in the US the usual pressure was to clean your plate, either to avoid offending your host or to not waste food. I have seen this cited as a possible contributor to obesity and unhealthy relationships with food here.

[lucb1e]

Honestly, I'd be happy if obese people (the article mentions 40% of USA citizens) left food on their plates. We're taught that it's a waste and that we should finish it out of respect, but that's illogical and harmful. I know someone who's morbidly obese but will always try to finish her plate due to these norms.

Parents use the argument about poor kids in Africa (at least my parents did) but that makes no sense. If I eat less, the banana doesn't magically appear on the plate of a poor family. There are only a billion people left in extreme poverty despite the recent (100 years) population explosion, and with some effort, most of them will soon have enough food, too. But reducing waste won't help; buying less would help. So instead, the parents should be berating themselves for getting the portion size wrong and having bought too much, instead of teaching kids to overeat and what a sin it is to leave food on the plate.

It's very hard to change these beliefs and habits, I'm curious what your thoughts are on this after reading my reasoning (which is by no means perfect, I might be wrong or explaining it wrong).

[rangibaby]

> There is also a first world etiquette of leaving some food in the plate. I have seen people habitually do it.

I think it’s a status thing, to show that you are rich enough that you can just throw away food. You have probably heard or seen the horror stories about (rich) Chinese tourists and buffets when they visit overseas.

OTOH My friend majorly pissed off our (normal for China) dinner host in southern China by putting food on his plate then not eating all of it.

It’s the same in Japan, and Japanese buffets literally fine people for taking food and not eating it.

[benj111]

"I think it’s a status thing"

I'd say its a politeness/not appearing greedy thing, certainly from a food in the centre of the table point of view. Drives me mad when at the end on a dinner party you have one potato, one carrot stick, one chunk of bread.

This is from a UK point of view, I understand there are different motivations elsewhere.

[asark]

Food portions and being (or acting) unable to finish all but the daintiest serving sizes definitely has a class component to it, at least in the US. I think this behavior's shifted "down" a notch or so, alongside fitness-as-a-class-marker (see also: athleisure wear) as the upper-middle and more perceptive anxious/striving middle classes have latched onto it. In tech circle's I'd guess it's very common, they consisting largely of those two class groups (using a Fussellian system of classification, here).

Of course our meal serving sizes do probably vary more than in most (saner) countries. On the low end of the dining-out spectrum, one is often served enough food for two or more meals. There's an "if I don't feel stuffed to the point of nigh-immobility, I got ripped off" attitude in that sector of the market.

[d-sc]

Food is fungible, if I don’t eat this food then I eat that food. Etc. In terms of my time, I can get a better return on investment spending 10 minutes working or socializing or cleaning than saving 80¢ worth of leftovers.

[krsrhe]

That’s not etiquette, it’s a weight loss diet fad.