Growing up, many children are told to clean their plates during meals. This is partially because parents
want their children to finish their vegetables and mostly because no one wants to waste food. The most popular reason
to clean your plate? "Because there are children starving in Africa." Whether this sort of statement has an
effect on children is difficult to say, but it did have an effect on a restaurant in London.
The Obalende Suya Express, a West-African barbecue restaurant, is enforcing a £2.50 fine for patrons whose eyes are bigger than their stomachs and leave food on their plates. They host an large, popular buffet every Sunday night and the restaurant owners noticed that people were taking food just because it was available, even if they had no intention of eating it. The owners said that they felt guilty dumping out all the wasted food at the end of the night. Now, large red signs warn the customers about the fine. The money collected from the fines goes to Oxfam, a poverty-relief charity.
The only downside? When customers learn to take only what they are willing to eat, the charity won't be getting as many contributions - not from this restaurant anyway. Other restaurants, including chains like TGI Fridays, donate food and goods to charity already, but perhaps this will encourage more business to do so when they can.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-21-2006 @ 11:37AM
Baron said...
We have a local Chinese food buffett, here in Jackson, MS, that has implemented the same thing. I do not know what the fine amount is, but they have a sign up asking people to not take more than they can eat. If they do, an extra charge will be added to their ticket.
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4-21-2006 @ 12:02PM
Hawk said...
I wonder what would happen if university dorms did this. I think a lot of dorms are all you can eat (the ones at my alma mater were) and they routinely calculate how much food is wasted.
It's a lot.
A loootttttttt.
Now I'd eat *everything* I got, wihch was approximately 3000 calories a sitting. My body wouldn't *digest* all that, but I still ate it and didn't go all bulemic afterwards.
I'm not sure how you could implement fining in this case.... Maybe you'd get a numbered tray when they swiped your card, and remove the ability for patrons to throw out their own food, requiring the dish cleaning attendant to do it and to scan the tray, to charge students (err, their parents, really) extra if they ate too much.
Just imagine your mom getting the college bill and seeing "food waste fine" over and over and over and over down your bill...
:)
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4-21-2006 @ 12:33PM
Whin said...
I think it's a wonderful idea. Wasted food has to be one of my biggest pet peeves. Maybe that's why I get small servings, clean my plate, then go for a little more if still hungry...
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4-21-2006 @ 12:50PM
Robyn said...
that is so awesome! i wonder how much it contributes to over-eating though...
on a semi-related note, my husband had a professor from russia who said that when she was growing up, their parents always told them that children in america were starving.
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4-21-2006 @ 12:53PM
pkhuong said...
The Spirite lounge in Montr? (Qc, Canada) has been doing that for a while. They offer one different meal every night, which you can order in 3 sizes. If you don't eat everything that's on your plate, they charge you 2$ and you can't have dessert. If you don't finish the dessert, you're barred from the restaurant ;) I don't know where the money goes, but I hope it's going to a charity.
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4-22-2006 @ 4:53AM
Berkana said...
While I was in So. Cal. visiting my bro, we went to Chevy's (the "fresh mex" place), and I ordered a margarita–the first margarita I've ever had. When the waitress came to take our order, I ordered a margarita, but since we were at Chevy's, there were half a dozen flavors. I told her to surprise me, and that my drink budget was $10 (hoping for quality, rather than quantity). Well, they brought me a "regualr" sized margarita, but it was pretty huge by my standards. I can't remember what flavor it was, but it was pretty good. ( I think the waitress went ahead and got me the most expensive item that fit in my drink budget). My brother got some weird margarita ("lava flow" I think) that tasted like Nerds dissolved in alchohol. . . . but I digress. . .
I looked at my jagged salt crusted glass of cactus alcohol and hesitated, invoking his stern admonishment:
"Drink up! Don't you know there are sober children in Africa?"
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