sit-down casual spots—may very well have changed the rec-
ipes, portion sizes, or positioning of some menu items. And
despite the federal law taking effect only in 2018, you no doubt
saw calorie labels at chains like Panera and Noah’s Bagels years
before, since some operations rolled it out nationally once local
or state measures were in place.LESS FOOD WASTE
Many of us have been told since childhood to finish our meal.
The (in)famous “Clean Plate Club.” But when we’re given more
nutrition and calorie information about a meal, some of us
might instead eat less. That may sound like more food waste, but
over the long run, it could add up to less. Food waste reduction
has caught on like wildfire across the industry. For instance,
many chefs now use kitchen scraps as creative ingredients, and
in cafeteria buffet settings like colleges and universities, trays
are becoming obsolete in order to nudge customers away from
both overeating and wasting. The biggest reason is that wasted
food is wasted money—money on ingredients, labor, water,
energy, etc. The more precisely restaurateurs and food-service
professionals can keep their waste down, the better they man-
age their budgets. And trust me, margins are tight. Operators
want to give you enough to keep you from leaving hungry and
disgruntled, and to allow you to feel you’ve gotten your mon-
ey’s worth, but not have too much left on the plate each time.
When people from other parts of the world visit the United
States, they’re often horrified by the portion sizes. Consider, for
instance, that the largest size of fries that McDonald’s offers on
the American menu is 11 percent bigger than that on the UK
menu. Portion sizes have become at least twice as big and up
to eight times as big as a “standard serving size” set by the
USDA and FDA. Based on a chart from the Waste-Free Kitchen
Handbook, between 1982 and 2002, the estimated restaurant246 how to be a Conscious EaterConscious Eater_04 PT_4th patches.indd 246 10/23/19 1:38 PM