[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.