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Another solution is making smaller portions. The sizes restaurants give you are ginormous.
Restaurant portions of food you’d actually do well to eat on a regular basis aren’t large. They’re usually tiny compared to DIY at home.
Order a “pasta with scallops” for an extreme example of how many you actually get vs what you could get if you cooked it yourself.
Another solution is making smaller portions. The sizes restaurants give you are ginormous.
But suggesting portion control would be advocating more personal responsibility, so maybe that explains peoples’ “disagreement.” So much easier to toss in the trash, right?
At the risk of sounding preachy, I was raised with the “clean plate” philosophy and avoided overeating by planning beforehand what I could reasonably eat, and never putting anything more on my plate. Once you get rid of the incentive at the very end to eat just a bit more, I don’t see this as being a huge problem anymore.
Not everybody eats under those conditions. When I was a kid my parents would always put food on my plate, and I was expected to eat it all. They usually put too much, because nobody wants to be the parent who starves their kid. Similarly, restaurants always tend to err on the side of serving too much rather than too little, as do family gatherings or dinner parties where the guests do not serve themselves.
As a rule of thumb, I tell myself that it’s better to throw away food than to overeat. (Preparing just the right amount is even better, but more difficult.)
As a former professional cook it burns me to see such a casual suggestion to waste food. I’ve worked for people who would weigh the food you swept up off the floor at the end of the day to illustrate waste.
At the risk of sounding preachy, I was raised with the “clean plate” philosophy and avoided overeating by planning beforehand what I could reasonably eat, and never putting anything more on my plate. Once you get rid of the incentive at the very end to eat just a bit more, I don’t see this as being a huge problem anymore.
It works when you serve yourself or otherwise have control over your own portions. When I moved away to college I found that suddenly I usually cleaned my plate and didn't overstuff myself. Ditto when I cook for myself. Not everybody eats under those conditions. When I was a kid my parents would always put food on my plate, and I was expected to eat it all. They usually put too much, because nobody wants to be the pa…
At restaurants, we would usually skimp on appetizers and other “fluff” before the main course, which I have found makes the total amount of food not overly large.
Mom: "There are starving kids in China, eat all your food!". Thanks Mom; kids are still starving there, and now America is fat. --unkown comedian. I was told, as a kid, that it was rude to not eat all the food put in front of you, especially at other people's houses. Other parents would comment on how polite we children were for clearing our plates.
As a rule of thumb, I tell myself that it’s better to throw away food than to overeat. (Preparing just the right amount is even better, but more difficult.)
What about saving for the next day, composting or donating? As a former professional cook it burns me to see such a casual suggestion to waste food. I’ve worked for people who would weigh the food you swept up off the floor at the end of the day to illustrate waste.
Saving for the next day and especially donating isn't practical in the small amounts we're talking about.
Personal home cooking is very different from large scale professional kitchens / dining.
As a rule of thumb, I tell myself that it’s better to throw away food than to overeat. (Preparing just the right amount is even better, but more difficult.)
What about saving for the next day, composting or donating? As a former professional cook it burns me to see such a casual suggestion to waste food. I’ve worked for people who would weigh the food you swept up off the floor at the end of the day to illustrate waste.
Even if I do cook for myself I am often unsure whether it is safe to reheat the food, and for how long.