Why do some people think it's ok to waste food while on the Dining Plan?

[fumipappa]

A parent doesn't necessarily know ahead of time that their child is not going to eat their meal. Sometimes they're too tired or overstimulated, but you don't necessarily know that ahead of time. Believe me. I abhor wasting food as well, but to judge others in a morally superior way isn't always helpful.

Actually, I have different point of view. maybe cultural thing but when I was kid, I could not leave the dinner table until I eat EVERYTHING on my plate. Otherwise I did not have dinner next day. My mom did not ask what I wanted to eat because she knew her food was good enough as taste and nutrition.
I am not that strict. At least I ask my kids(8,5,2) what they want to eat.
But it does not mean they can eat what they want. I also make sure they can eat or not BEFORE dinner. In my family, if kids are overwhelmed or tired, they should tell me or my wife before dinner how much they can eat because i feel like to monitor my kids' condition is the part of role of parents. I am not going to waste food. If we cannot guess how they behave, we, as a parents, do not order whatever we want to eat so that we can kids' meal not to waste any food. I am just saying the food waste is not excusable no matter what in my realm.(of course if you have emergency medical condition, different story)


morally superior? I am not sure what exactly define "superior" because there are always different point of view so something bad for someone maybe something good to others, but I am sure that everybody agree with the opinion that WE are wasting while somebody else are starving in this world

 

[kirbydog48]

A parent doesn't necessarily know ahead of time that their child is not going to eat their meal. Sometimes they're too tired or overstimulated, but you don't necessarily know that ahead of time. Believe me. I abhor wasting food as well, but to judge others in a morally superior way isn't always helpful.

 

[Pumbaa_]

I have to tell you I have not noticed what others are doing at their tables with their meals too busy enjoying my dinner with friends or family.

Oh, I might notice when it is brought out if it looks better than mine though!

 

[fumipappa]

Have you ever eaten in a unfamiliar restaurant? (fighting the urg to use caps lock) How can you POSSIBLY know what the portion size is before it comes? YOU CAN'T! Sure you can quiz the waiter for 15 minutes (is it about the size of my fist or the size of a soccer ball? does it fit comfortably on a 5 inch plate or a 9 inch plate), but I'm guessing most people ARE SANE and they realize the waiter has other things to do so they DON'T DO THIS.

I KNOW the kind of people that the OP was talking about. I READ all the time on these boards about people using up their DDP credits and ordering entrees for their kids when their kids only ate 2 bites of their appetizers. YES - there is a certain DDP related insanity that some people succumb to - whereby they lose all of their ever-lovin sense in the quest to USE THOSE CREDITS and GET THE MOST FOR THEIR MONEY. I, personally, think this is crazy, but that's just my humble opinion. I think it's equally crazy, though, to suggest that if someone orders some food and becomes full prior to cleaning their plate AND stops eating, then there's something wrong with that. Sane people don't purposely try to order WAY more than they could ever eat. But perfectly sane, normal, kind and law-abiding people order food and then see it come out of the kitchen and go, whoa, I didn't expect it to be that big. I'll never finish that. And if they're smart, they don't finish it.

And about the America being wasteful thing: I SAID America was wasteful. I said it before YOU did. What's your point? That America is wasteful? I KNOW. I said that already. I wish it weren't the truth but it is. I DON'T think the answer to THAT problem is to require that if people cannot be clairvoyant and magically anticipate the portion size of their order and correctly gauge whether that portion size will mesh with their particular appetite at that time OR magically know whether a particular dish will float their boat or make them gag, then they should be required to finish eating food when they realize that they've become full OR they discover that they HATE what they've ordered. I just don't.

Wait. I was politely dissenting. What happpened?

*going to find a glass of wine*

Actaually, I am always trying to go to unfamilier restaurant. My stance is, no matter where I go, I always order less than I want at the beginning, By doing this, I don't have to end up to leave food as waste. Easiest way is this.
If I go to restaurant with my family, 2 adults and 3 small kids, I don't order any appetizer or just one appetizer to share and 2 meal for adults+ 2meal for kids to share OR 1 adult meal +3 kids meal+ salad or some soup. Unless the restaurant is buffet or course meal almost all the time, restaurant is OK with this order. By doing that, we can, at least, eat everything we order. Do I end up not to order what I want? maybe, but my kids can eat what they want. I just priotirize my kids' wish that point. sometimes they want to eat some portion from adult meal, in that case, they don't order anything and share with me or my wife. You don't have to be clairvoyant to find out the amount of the food. Key is "order less than head count"

The point of American thing? well, not mean much. But at that time, I probably felt like this kind of topic was not hot in other country because opinion about food wasting is much more one sided.

 

[mdoc]

I agree with you that one should not purposefully waste food. To me this means you don't order something if you know you're not going to eat it. However, I'm not an advocate of overeating or cleaning one's plate for the sake of cleaning it. If I order something and I don't like it, I'm not going to finish it. If my eyes are bigger than my stomach and I order a dessert and can only finish a bite of it, I'm not going to eat it. I'll ask the others I'm dining with if they'd like to try it, and if it's reasonably convenient and I think there's a chance I'll finish it later, I'll take it home with me. I've never done the DDP because I KNOW I won't eat as much food as I'd need to to "get my money's worth."

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

"My point and hope is that people will become more conscious of how and what they are eating in terms of a wasteful sense (but I bet those people aren't reading this thread anyway)"

If "those people" aren't bothering to read your thread, then why bother to post?

If someone pays for the dining plan so that they are able to try new restaurants and menu items, they are entitled to order what the plan covers, whether you like it or not. If the posts disgust and insult you, don't read them.

We have the meal plan so that we can try new items. It doesn't mean we will order every item available to us, just that we like the option. On the other hand, if I eat at a restaurant and I don't like the food, I'm not going to eat it no matter what.

And a half a piece of cheesecake contributing to the downfall of the environment??? Good grief!! Oh yeah, I forgot . . . The United States of America is the root of all evil and is polluting the entire world. Give me a break folks!

And by the way, it's not my intention to be controversial either. We all have our pet peeves. I respect your opinion but if you don't like the posts, don't read them.

Ok. I'm finished being non-controversial.
(And by the way, "smiley" does eventually finish that bag of popcorn!)

I am so with you on this!!! It is really nobody's business, is it? Of all the things to get upset about, this is the most ridiculous to me. On DP we try all sorts of new items, but if we don't finish each and every item down to the last crumb, the world will not come to an end. I am also tired of the high and mighty attitude of some people, Americans and non-Americans, talking about our "wastefulness" and if they don't like our way of life, why do they stay here? I am directing this conversation your way, but I am sure others will take offense thinking I am writing it for their benefit. I agree with your whole post - America seems to be "the big evil" to all the world, but why then do so many folks want to come here to live? Such a sad thing to hear my beloved country berated all the time. The USA is still the best!!!!

 

[Colleen27]

I don't think people really purposefully order food they don't intend to eat. I think it is more a matter of wanting to try the appetizer and the entree and dessert, but not being able to finish the portions that are served. Restaurants don't generally offer the option of ordering half-portions, and on the dining plan, even the ability to share depends upon the restaurant and the server. So the choice is to skip the extras entirely or to deal with the portions served. Personally, I'm not and never will be a member of the clean plate club, because I think obesity/overeating is a far bigger issue than half-finished meals, so we choose to deal with the portions by taking our leftovers to go when possible, and leaving them behind when it isn't.

 

[septbaby]

Not too worry, Disney has "fixed" this tendency. In 2008, no automatic appetizers so there is less to eat, less to waste on the plan. If you really want an appetizer, you'll pay extra for it and I bet most will come close to finishing them.

My prediction is those on the Deluxe plan will waste more food. They will find that trying to eat 3TS meals a day (many won't think having a CS is good value on the plan, when in fact it is) is TOO MUCH food and literally won't be able to eat it all.

Eating habits at buffets are different and there will always be more waste as our eyes truly are bigger than our stomaches there. Personally I try to take a bit of the things I want to try and go back as many times as I like once I've discovered the things to my liking. At times I take things that I just don't like and at other times I take too much.

 

[smidgy]

I have to tell you I have not noticed what others are doing at their tables with their meals too busy enjoying my dinner with friends or family.

Oh, I might notice when it is brought out if it looks better than mine though!

wow! couldn't have said it better! and I enjoy trying things I would not normally pay OOP for, if I am not sure i like it IE, crab cakes. now, I know.

but I do know that now, I will be keeping an eye on "big brother", my fellow diners spying on what I eat and don't eat... sheesh!

 

[Dis Ohana]

I personally would feel very uncomfortable if we ordered a dish and didn't eat it. I KNOW an app / main dish / dessert per person will be way too much for our family. We do want to try a signature restaurant, so what I plan to do is share a few meals with my daughter (12) to have enough credits to do so. We rarely order dessert at home, so we'll probably just order a couple of them and share, or just pass. Even without ordering every single thing we can, I still feel we'll get good value from the DDP.

 

[kimsuenew]

First of all, if we are the ones paying for food, it is no ones business what or how we eat! Having said that, I would never (and have never) made my child "clean his plate" when he is full, nor will I finish a meal if I am full, or if I have gotten a meal for the very first time and find some part of it to be disgusting. This is the same at any place, not just at WDW on the DDP. I go out to eat, enjoy my family/friends, the decor, and (hopefully) the food. What I do not do when out is look around at how others do, or do not, eat!

 

[fakereadhed]

Why do some think it's OK?

Probably for the same reason some feel comfortable condemning those who do it.

They're not going to let others' opinions keep them from doing what they feel like doing at that particular moment.

Thank goodness for some common sense around here.

I can't for the life of me figure out why so many people spend their vacations 1)monitoring what other people are doing 2)letting it bother them.

BTW, OP I won't hold it against you when you don't maximize your dining plan. In fact, I won't even notice.

 

[Tiger926]

Thank goodness for some common sense around here.

I can't for the life of me figure out why so many people spend their vacations 1)monitoring what other people are doing 2)letting it bother them.

BTW, OP I won't hold it against you when you don't maximize your dining plan. In fact, I won't even notice.

I guess I'm confused as to how me not maximizing my Dining Plan is something to be held against me? By us only ordering what we can eat, it allows us not to waste food - this in fact will save you as a restaurant patron money one day. Remember, I have grown up in a restaurant family, so I absolutely know about food costs - when food is continuously wasted by guests, several things happen: 1) Prices are raised or 2) Portions are made smaller (Disney absolutely should have half portions as my family has always had this at their restaurants). Inevitably at big corporations like Disney, the guests are always the losers.

I guess I'm not surprised by some of the comments on this thread, especially the "people should mind their own business comments." These comments just answered my original question, but it's still amazing to me that people think it's ok to have this attitude, until something tragic or costly happens (like Disney making major changes to the DP) happens, and then those same people are blaming others for the issue at hand. A little foresight and altruism goes a long way - if you aren't hungry, don't order.

My family and I are proud of the fact that we don't waste food while on the Dining Plan and we are glad that there are other families out there who have the foresight to realize that this in fact positively afects others. I just hope that we far outnumber those of you who think it's not a big deal to waste food, or our Dining Plans may be seriously impacted one day.

Tiger

 

[fakereadhed]

I guess I'm confused as to how me not maximizing my Dining Plan is something to be held against me?

Tiger

I guess you didn't notice the ? That means I was kidding. I really don't care what others choose to do with their own plate.

 

[kimsuenew]

I guess I'm confused as to how me not maximizing my Dining Plan is something to be held against me? By us only ordering what we can eat, it allows us not to waste food - this in fact will save you as a restaurant patron money one day. Remember, I have grown up in a restaurant family, so I absolutely know about food costs - when food is continuously wasted by guests, several things happen: 1) Prices are raised or 2) Portions are made smaller (Disney absolutely should have half portions as my family has always had this at their restaurants). Inevitably at big corporations like Disney, the guests are always the losers.

I guess I'm not surprised by some of the comments on this thread, especially the "people should mind their own business comments." These comments just answered my original question, but it's still amazing to me that people think it's ok to have this attitude, until something tragic or costly happens (like Disney making major changes to the DP) happens, and then those same people are blaming others for the issue at hand. A little foresight and altruism goes a long way - if you aren't hungry, don't order.
My family and I are proud of the fact that we don't waste food while on the Dining Plan and we are glad that there are other families out there who have the foresight to realize that this in fact positively afects others. I just hope that we far outnumber those of you who think it's not a big deal to waste food, or our Dining Plans may be seriously impacted one day.

Tiger

And I find it amazing that anyone thinks they have a right to judge anyone else, period! I guess what needs to be considered is that here we are blessed to be Americans and being such we have rights and freedoms. One of my freedoms is the right to choose when, where, and how I eat. If a portion is to big, or a dish unappetizing, I can leave it on my plate. As far as your being raised in a family restaurant... your family was paid for the meals, even if part of those meals were left on the plate. My sister and brother-in-law own a popular sit down pizza place in a busy college town. There is plenty of waste, but it does not hurt their bottom line. They were paid for the food! They pay the garbage service the same, it does not matter if the weekly dumpster pick up is full or empty!

 

[Colleen27]

I KNOW the kind of people that the OP was talking about. I READ all the time on these boards about people using up their DDP credits and ordering entrees for their kids when their kids only ate 2 bites of their appetizers. YES - there is a certain DDP related insanity that some people succumb to - whereby they lose all of their ever-lovin sense in the quest to USE THOSE CREDITS and GET THE MOST FOR THEIR MONEY. I, personally, think this is crazy, but that's just my humble opinion.

I couldn't agree more! I'll admit, I don't get the fervor over *maximizing* the dining plan. I don't understand why people compile or seek out lists of the most expensive places to use credits, because I think the beauty of the plan is in never having to look at the prices. I don't understand the compulsion to order every course to get the most out of the plan, even if you just aren't that hungry or know you won't eat it (we usually refuse dessert with our CS, for example, because the choices very rarely appeal to us). The dining plan, as it exists now and has existed for the last few years, is such a good deal that unless you leave TS credits unused, you come out ahead.

 

[Tiger926]

And I find it amazing that anyone thinks they have a right to judge anyone else, period! I guess what needs to be considered is that here we are blessed to be Americans and being such we have rights and freedoms. One of my freedoms is the right to choose when, where, and how I eat. If a portion is to big, or a dish unappetizing, I can leave it on my plate. As far as your being raised in a family restaurant... your family was paid for the meals, even if part of those meals were left on the plate. My sister and brother-in-law own a popular sit down pizza place in a busy college town. There is plenty of waste, but it does not hurt their bottom line. They were paid for the food! They pay the garbage service the same, it does not matter if the weekly dumpster pick up is full or empty!

Thanks, but you are missing the point, because as I've learned from this thread, the only issues that are important are: personal freedoms and finances. It doesn't matter that patrons have already paid for my family's food, we don't like food to go to waste, period. If they see a lot of food wastage, steps are taken (we do have very strict rules though about donating food due to board of health restrictions, but whenever possible, they do that) in order to stop it - samples, explaining portion sizes, having half sizes, etc. What is important here to my family and I is the food wastage itself, and not the financial part of it. This is the point that some of the above posters got - sure my family gets paid, but in the process, there is much food wastage, something they care highly about (especially since I teach at-risk kids, many of whom they donate food to).

As per usual on the DIS, these topics are lost to "It's my right, so I'll do whatever I want," instead of being thoroughly understood for what they are.

Tiger who has a headache most times she reads the DIS anymore as some people just don't seem to get it

 

[Lzylitnin]

While, I try not to be wasteful in any area of my life, it is no one else's business what I eat or spend on MY food. Are you buying? Well, then that would be different.

When I order food, I always say "I'd like to try this salad, entree, dessert, drink, etc." and I mean it. I am trying it. If I don't like it, I'm not going to eat it! and you can't make me, nor will you make me feel guilty for it!

Part of the joy of travelling is enjoying and trying new things. I would be hesitant to try new things if I was FORCED to continue doing something I didn't enjoy, eating something not to my liking included.

 

[mom2aredhead]

I guess I'm not surprised by some of the comments on this thread, especially the "people should mind their own business comments." These comments just answered my original question, but it's still amazing to me that people think it's ok to have this attitude, until something tragic or costly happens (like Disney making major changes to the DP) happens, and then those same people are blaming others for the issue at hand. A little foresight and altruism goes a long way - if you aren't hungry, don't order.

Tiger

I think it is wrong to make judgements about people being wasteful, or selfish, by seeing what they have done with their food in that particular restaurant during that particular snapshot of their day. Were they just on Mission Space and not feeling well at the sight of their food? Is it a larger than expected portion that will spoil in the hundred degree Florida heat before they can get it back to the room? Did they just arrive from volunteering 12 hours at the food bank? I don't think that most people go to restaurants and order food they do not intend to eat. Sweeping generalizations are wrong.

And FWIW, in the grand scheme of thinks, I think it is silly to refer things like menu or DDP changes as "tragic".

 

[Pirate's Princess]

Thanks for opinion, but you missed my point. Nowhere did I say a half eaten piece of cheesecake is contributing to environmental disasters - but 10,000 half eaten pieces of cheesecake add up to a lot of wasted food - food that could go to feeding my at-risk students, for instance.

Tiger

While it is tragic those "atrisk" students do not get enough to eat, they are not going to get the cheesecake regardless. It's not like Disney is going to send you 10,000 pieces of uneaten cheesecake if their patrons don't eat them? How does us trying cheesecake affect those students??? This reminds me of a story my mother told me about when she was growing up.. My Oma (German grandma) firmly believed you finished your dinner (which she determined the amounts of food on your plate) or you go right to bed. My mom being a small eater always went to bed early. Her mother always said She should clean her plate because children in Africa were starving....Well one day my mom addressed a large envelope to Africa, hid it as she got to the table, ready to whip it out when her mother started her rant about starving children. So when her mom was finished, she pulled it out and proudly said If they are so hungry, why don't you send the food to them. Yea well she got a good beating, haha. BUt it's true.

I guess I'm not surprised by some of the comments on this thread, especially the "people should mind their own business comments." These comments just answered my original question, but it's still amazing to me that people think it's ok to have this attitude, until something tragic or costly happens (like Disney making major changes to the DP) happens, and then those same people are blaming others for the issue at hand. A little foresight and altruism goes a long way - if you aren't hungry, don't order.

My family and I are proud of the fact that we don't waste food while on the Dining Plan and we are glad that there are other families out there who have the foresight to realize that this in fact positively afects others. I just hope that we far outnumber those of you who think it's not a big deal to waste food, or our Dining Plans may be seriously impacted one day.

Tiger

Why is it wrong to have a MYOB attitude? I'm not blaming anyone over the changes to the DDP, which I feel they did became we did say there was a decline in service and too much food, so they changed it. What most people are upset about is that they didn't compensate the difference in price. I'm fine with the new DDP but lowering the price $1 is ridiculous considering they removed about $15 of value.

I still don't understand that me trying a bite of cheesecake because I want to, but I'm too full to eat a whole piece (dont' even get me started on the lack of ability to determine one's own satiety due to years of "cleaning their plate") is selfish and lacks forsight or that it negatively affects others.

Of course there are tons of things we can do to stop having such a negative impact on the world. We could all ride bicycles--get rid of those smog producing cars (or at least promote alternative sources--super awesome Air car! [anybody watch that future car special on Discovery???]). We could all become vegans since raising animals (and all the resources for them) uses much more land and resources than growing produce. We also should start limiting reproduction rates because the world population is growing, so by having more than 2 kids, we are perpetuating that growth since we're not simply replacing our numbers, or maybe only limit it to one child in order to decrease the population size. And while we're at it we should live in tiny apartments decreasing our personal usage of land, and you know Disney world itself is a large land area. I bet we could knock it down and instead use it for something more altruistic.

(We have these things called Freedoms in America, we're allowed to make choices, some positve and some negative, but once you start mandating and acting all morally superior about waste, it's easy to become a slippery slope about how we can change to be better.--Dont get me wrong it's important to make changes and not just write them off because it can become extreme, but I still don't see how my cheesecake affects those kids?? )

And I find it amazing that anyone thinks they have a right to judge anyone else, period! I guess what needs to be considered is that here we are blessed to be Americans and being such we have rights and freedoms. One of my freedoms is the right to choose when, where, and how I eat. If a portion is to big, or a dish unappetizing, I can leave it on my plate. As far as your being raised in a family restaurant... your family was paid for the meals, even if part of those meals were left on the plate.

Amen, sister!

Getting off my soap box now

I couldn't agree more! I'll admit, I don't get the fervor over *maximizing* the dining plan. I don't understand why people compile or seek out lists of the most expensive places to use credits, because I think the beauty of the plan is in never having to look at the prices.

I personally go to the expensive restaurants because they are the ones that have food I want to try! I am a foodie and I want to try interesting things, and it seems these places have them. I don't feel it's maximizing, I think it is the benefit of not looking at prices. (I totally have expensive tastes!)