Cruising and wastefulness (food). Are you mindful of wasting food?

[cruisecritiquer]

This is kind of a spinoff from the bacon rationing thread re: people who pile heaps of bacon on their plates to the chagrin of some of the cruisers in that thread.

 

It made me wonder if you try to prevent excessive leftovers on your plate of it's something you don't even think about it because you feel as though you paid for it.

 

Just curious.

[NLH Arizona]

The only time I have a choice is at the buffet and I don't overfill my plate, as I feel I can always go back for seconds if I'm still hungry.

[Love my butler]

I am mindful of waste in everyday life. Kind of hard to shut if off while on vacation. I do my best to not waste anything, food or otherwise on the ship, but I don't obsess over it.

[CTGirl74]

I've only been on one cruise so far, but when I went I was mindful of how much I was putting on my plate. I don't like leaving a bunch of food to be cleared away. i also don't like when I see people take tons of food and only eat maybe a quarter of it. I'm like that in restaurants too. I hate when someone leaves more than half the food on their plate and doesn't take it home. Seems very wasteful to me.

[KeithJenner]

I don't feel strongly about it, but I can't see the point in piling your plate high in the buffet. I take what I want and go back for more if necessary.

 

To be honest, I can't see the appeal in a huge plateful of food, all mixed together (we've all seen the plates with the main meal and pudding piled together). If anything I see in the buffet makes me look in wonder it is those people who go to such lengths to avoid walking back for more or for their desert.

[CTGirl74]

I don't feel strongly about it, but I can't see the point in piling your plate high in the buffet. I take what I want and go back for more if necessary.

 

To be honest, I can't see the appeal in a huge plateful of food, all mixed together (we've all seen the plates with the main meal and pudding piled together). If anything I see in the buffet makes me look in wonder it is those people who go to such lengths to avoid walking back for more or for their desert.

 

Omg my mother in law does that! It always grosses me out to see pastry and tapioca pudding squeezed next to, and touching, the baked ziti.

[McDebbie]

For us this happens most often in the buffet, we'll think 'oh that looks good and that looks good' but when we actually sit down to eat it "yuck" Luckily we don't pile our plates high so there is not that much waste, but yeah, we should probably just skip the buffet.

[bobg529]

This is kind of a spinoff from the bacon rationing thread re: people who pile heaps of bacon on their plates to the chagrin of some of the cruisers in that thread.

 

It made me wonder if you try to prevent excessive leftovers on your plate of it's something you don't even think about it because you feel as though you paid for it.

 

Just curious.

 

 

What's a leftover? :confused:

[bplazo]

Growing up, we were not allowed to leave the table till your plate was clean, gosh sometimes I sat there for hours. So, I only take a little at a time.

[OCruisers]

Has this ever happened to you in the buffet? :confused:

All I wanted was ONE ... two at the most ... pieces of bacon.

It was all stuck together so ended up with a big lump of bacon on my plate. :o

 

LuLu

~~~~

[KeithJenner]

For us this happens most often in the buffet, we'll think 'oh that looks good and that looks good' but when we actually sit down to eat it "yuck" Luckily we don't pile our plates high so there is not that much waste, but yeah, we should probably just skip the buffet.

 

There are always things that you find you don't like, and sometimes we all leave things (although our general aversion to waste means that someone else in the family eats it).

 

The bigger issues is the "eyes bigger than belly" people who just take more than they can eat. My son does it, but he's just 8 and has a bit of an excuse. I'd hope that he learns in the next few years, but it does seem from the evidence of the buffets that some never learn.

 

Having said that, I'm not sure how much food does get left as the plates are generally cleared away pretty quickly.

[debnjoe1438]

Sometimes at the buffet the eyes are bigger than the stomach, however I try not to take more than I'll eat. Vacation or not I'm also thinking of the calories. (Just worry a little less about them on vacation:D)

[Yillup]

At a buffet I'll usually take small amounts of plenty of different items. Buffets are almost always hit and miss. There'll be plenty of things that look great that once you have a mouthful you realise it's not what you like. Maybe it's got hidden ingredients you weren't expecting, maybe it's saltier than you thought, etc. Because of that I usually get more than what I plan to eat and do leave some things on my plate.

 

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[bobg529]

Gee Whiz, everyone is so worried about how much food they're eating at an all you can eat buffet?!? What the heck, try what you like, you're on a cruise. You'll be back on a diet in a week. I'm sick of salad! Please tell Mayor Bloomberg to stay away from my cruise! :cool:

[Dorhead1230]

I try very hard at home to waste as little food as possible; I freeze leftovers, portion food out, etc. It makes me feel so guilty to waste when people don't have enough to eat and food production uses up so many resources. At buffets, I'm also weird about different foods touching in my plate, so I'd always rather take a little and then go back for more! That being said, if I really don't like something I take, I just don't eat it. I was also happy that the MDR portions weren't too huge, so that I could actually order all three courses without really wasting.

[tortoisegirl]

When at the buffet I do usually only take what I know I'll eat, a small amount until I know I like something, etc. I don't mind the effort to go back for seconds. When at the MDR it can be tougher though. If I don't like something, I won't finish it. Or, sometimes portions are much larger then expected.

 

Plus, there often isn't the option to change an order, as they pre-plate everything. For example, my husband would prefer to get two steaks, no potatoes, and veggies. He'll end up ordering the two steak entrees and the side of veggies, but then the potatoes are wasted. So, we would try to minimize food waste, but sometimes to get what we want it isn't possible.

 

There is a massive amount of food waste that is inevitable with cruising and buffets. For example, when food sits out after a certain amount of time, they have to toss it, or when passengers a certain week aren't as interested in something and it spoils. However, this happens on land too: at farms, supermarkets, restaurants, and at home. Approximately 40% of food in the U.S. is wasted at some point in the chain. Best wishes.

[puggsie]

I'm one to take a little of each I think looks good and go back for more of what I like.

 

That said, I have gotten full plates with a spoonful of a variety of foods from the buffet and might have only liked one thing on the plate. I am not going to eat what I end up not liking.

 

If others are judging my plate for being wasteful if I have left food I don't like, let them judge. I'm fat enough and don't need the extra calories from food that doesn't taste good to me. :)

 

I also love that the entrées in the restaurants are smaller! More room for desert. LOL

 

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[Cubechick]

Growing up, we were not allowed to leave the table till your plate was clean, gosh sometimes I sat there for hours. So, I only take a little at a time.

 

LOL...we may be related. ;)

[DMH15]

I don't do buffets.

 

Since I battle my weight constantly a cruise is no different. Sometimes I will order a dessert (one) and eat half. Sonetimes I just eat a bite of my mom's, we cruise together.

 

One of the reasons I like Moderno is usually when you turn over the card to green you know you can eat a little more. But you don't have a mound if leftover food on the plate.

[sebas030]

I also get only small amount of what I think I will like. If the dish is new to me... Heck i'll try it, but bite size serving. Very rare I waste something.....

 

The worst I have seen...: the chocoholic buffet.... OMG.... Let's be honest here...the quality of the chocolate itself has been dropping.. Even staff member confirmed that they used to use hersey's chocolate a few years back...now they use the generic chocolate :(

 

...that being said, on the 30 or so different dessert, maybe one or 2 are worth it... And the HUGEEEEE plates are flying all over the buffet...please people... Work those legs.. Do 2 or 3 trips ans stop the carnage...tons of food wasted those nights...

[jingle5616]

Number 7........:eek:

[vols_159]

This is kind of a spinoff from the bacon rationing thread re: people who pile heaps of bacon on their plates to the chagrin of some of the cruisers in that thread.

 

It made me wonder if you try to prevent excessive leftovers on your plate of it's something you don't even think about it because you feel as though you paid for it.

 

Just curious.

 

I get what i want from the buffet but if I don't like it for whatever reason over cooked undercooked not flavorful i leave it on my plate I start with a small plate and go back if i want more

[ldlewis45]

If you think about it, though, the food is going to go to waste whether it's thrown out when our plate's picked up or when they dispose of the left over items on the buffet. It's not like they're sticking the leftovers in a refrigerator at the end of the meal like you would at home. That's why I don't feel too guilty about taking more than I'll eat. I don't pile tons of food on a plate, but I'm not going to force myself to eat something I don't like or for which I no longer have an appetite.

[gizmo911]

I have been on a total of 9 cruises and I must admit that the first couple my eating habits at the buffet was poor. I put more on my plate than I could really eat, ate fast, and stuffed myself. I especially wanted to try items I had never tried before. It really makes no sense because you can always go back for more. Not only was there food left on my plate, I felt sick and uncomfortable for several hours after. I think by the third cruise I was calmer and more settled. I did not rush to get or eat my food. I ate very small amounts of items I wanted to try and only went back if I had enough room or really enjoyed something. May it is just being excited or overwhelmed with it all or not understanding the etiquette. For some, it is probably just being greedy and not caring or giving it any attention,

[cherylroslyn]

If you think about it, though, the food is going to go to waste whether it's thrown out when our plate's picked up or when they dispose of the left over items on the buffet. It's not like they're sticking the leftovers in a refrigerator at the end of the meal like you would at home. That's why I don't feel too guilty about taking more than I'll eat. I don't pile tons of food on a plate, but I'm not going to force myself to eat something I don't like or for which I no longer have an appetite.

Every single morsel is thrown out at the end of each cruise. The orders are formulaic and based on the numbers of cruises and number of days. whatever is not eaten is ground up and a lot of it is used to feed ocean creatures.

 

The do not save supplies from one week to the next.