Don't feel like you have to join the Clean Plate Club.
Who here has heard the phrase "waste not, want not"? What about "your eyes are bigger than your stomach"? Or "children around the world are starving, don't leave that food on your plate"?
Food and eating guilt starts young. Food is a major expense in many households and wasting any is akin to wasting money. But what happens when you grow up and the costs of healthcare following overeating are more expensive than the wasted food?
Therefore, I'm revoking your membership to the Clean Plate Club. Take that plaque off your wall, the card out of your wallet, the notion out of your brain. In an analysis done in 2014 of many studies of overeating, researchers found that adults ate 92% of what they put on their plates. Kids only ate around 60% of what was on their plates. (source).
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| If you forgot what your membership card looked like, this is what you should be looking for in your wallet. |
Because most of us were raised in households where we were told to finish more on our plates, I won't ask you to start throwing out food. Instead, plan to save a portion of the food you cook (bonus: leftovers make great lunch). Put it in tupperwares and put it in the fridge before you sit down to eat.
When out to eat, ask for a to-go container and place some of your entree into it before you start eating.
Look out for future-you. Future-you will thank you with extended and better quality of life.
Kate Fossman, RDN, LD
September 17, 2015
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