I'd like to know how much obesity is caused by a structural "finish everything on your plate" problem. By this I mean the tendency of certain folks to finish everything that is served, no matter what their hunger level is. Also, I've heard it said that people who eat from smaller plates will consume fewer calories over time.
In the study, the group given water also had their food portions slashed by a substantial amount. What happens if the portions stay the same size? How many people will read or see re-hashed versions of this study in their daily papers or news and simply prefix a large glass of water before their dinners, only to find that it has made no difference?
Getting over the cultural teaching that I must eat everything that is served in that sitting was the KEY to my weight loss, personally. I had no real dietary changes. I found that if I just ate slower and stopped when I felt satisfied most meals were nearly twice the size they needed to be. Another upside of this is it is cost effective to grab lunch and have the left overs for dinner (or the reverse)
Agreed. I now try to stop eating the instant I feel the slightest desire to stop. It seems to me that I've been programmed to ignore this impulse.
This is especially true of America where portion sizes are gigantic and people consider themselves primarily bargain-hunters rather than experience-seekers. It is amazing to me how much Americans will complain if a restaurant offers portion sizes just a little bit smaller than other restaurants in the area, even if the quality is much higher.
"people consider themselves primarily bargain-hunters rather than experience-seekers"
I suspect changing this attitude, more even than the promotion of local/organic/sustainable food production, could be the biggest social benefit of the foodie movement.
It is interesting how popular media plays into this. On a Food Network's chef competition on chef made a typical "American" size portion for one of the dishes. The judges really didn't like that.
On the other hand typical American restaurants often insert sarcastic lines in their TV ads about how our portions are nothing like "French" portions -- you really get a bang for your buck when you eat here.
So it seems like there are 2 very different attitudes and 2 very different types of consumers. Both are catered to by different types of businesses.
I think the portion size has also been a hint as to how much a person should be eating. Those have been used more by the food processing industry to "mask" the caloric content of their products, rather than by consumers to modulate their food intake appropriately.
A big problem with food in America is that High Fructose Corn Syrup is spiked in almost everything frozen and canned foods these days (sure, you may avoid it at home - but not all restaurants are treated equal). The biggest problem with HFCS is eating satiety (or feeling of fullness) is offset considerably.
Recently I crossed the country with my parents to visit my grandma. She was born in the 1920s and spent a large part of her childhood in the Lower East Side, so it's quite a culture shock to visit her. In her case, it's not that you have to finish everything on the plate - it's that as soon as you finish one item, you're compelled to try three more. Or in other words, large quantities of food is the only form of hospitality she's really familiar with.
However this strategy arose, all her children have rejected it, which leads me to believe that these sorts of things can change quickly between generations. On the other hand, my parents are still erring on the side of "low-fat" style nutrition, even though I've told them repeatedly that it's been essentially debunked.
I wonder, what bad nutritional advice will I cling to desperately when I'm older?
My grandparents and other elders were "food pushers," too, and I sometimes wonder whether it all stemmed from them spending their formative years in the Great Depression. It seems like those of us raised by them, unless we reject it, could still be experiencing a ripple effect from a time when there was never enough food, and the consequences of still acting like there's not enough when there's in fact way too much.
Plenty of it, but that's also because typically people will prepare (or expect to be prepared for them in restaurants) unbelievable amounts of food.
I weigh about 70 Kg and a half portion in any US restaurant is more than enough for me. I always feel bad about sending food back to the kitchen but I'd feel even worse for overeating.
I find this is somewhat dependent on the restaurant I'm at. I'm a stable 60-65Kg, but I hungrily consume almost anything in front of me, except at the most excessive of restaurants.
Technology has allowed us to produce massive amounts of food very inexpensively. The restaurant portions are evidence of that. We can grow, process and deliver food much more inexpensively than we did 30 years ago.
Go into a Bojanles and order a large hash brown as a side order for breakfast. It's enough potatoes for three or four adults.
Yeah, my wife and I always have to remember to split an entree at US restaurants. Once we split an appetizer, and, not having been that hungry in the first place, were basically good for the evening.
Well I can name one place where portions are exactly the right size and it's McDonald's. E.g., cheeseburger plus the Caesar salad w/o chicken, plus french fries plus two apple pies plus a coke is about half the size of a meal in a regular restaurant. Which of course doesn't stop people like my girlfriend from bashing McDonald's as non-healthy and preferring places where "gourmet" burgers range from 1/3 to 1lb, i.e., the smallest one is bigger than the quarter-pounder.
I don't think McDonalds is as bad as some people make it out to be, but it's not all that great either. You're not getting high quality food there, and in terms of a "dining experience", the ambiance leaves something to be desired:-)
Not to single out McDonalds...I went to Wendy's the other day and got a medium (i.e. smallest) combo meal. The "medium" drink I was given was a 32oz cup. If it were a HFCS drink, it probably would have been just as many calories as the food itself.
The food quality/quantity is a secondary concern if you're doubling them with a sugary beverage.
That seems kind of weird, most places will bring out an extra plate for you to share/split with someone as soon as you ask.
I can however see them laugh at the half portions at full price (just take the leftovers if you feel bad for wasting food, maybe you could even give it to a bum if you can't bring the food home).
It's a cultural thing. As a European in North America you find lots of those things where the 'right' thing to do is less than obvious, and restaurant etiquette is one of those.
Americans visiting Europe would find themselves in a similar situation if they asked for a doggie bag. Most places wouldn't even be prepared to handle such a request.
But then again, the portions are so much smaller that a request of that nature is unlikely.
Is it uncommon for European restaurants to bring out another plate/silverware if asked, or just considered bad manners?
I'm genuinely curious, but perhaps I misunderstood what you were saying.
Also I'm curious if doggy bags imply the same connotations where you are from, as here they imply simply bringing leftovers home, although it has been a very long time since I've heard the term doggy bag and am more accustomed to people asking if anyone wants a box or their leftovers wrapped up.
> Is it uncommon for European restaurants to bring out another plate/silverware if asked, or just considered bad manners?
I'd hate to try :) I've never ever seen anybody do that, except for maybe asking for an extra spoon to share a desert.
> Also I'm curious if doggy bags imply the same connotations where you are from, as here they imply simply bringing leftovers home, although it has been a very long time since I've heard the term doggy bag and am more accustomed to people asking if anyone wants a box or their leftovers wrapped up.
I think that part of the stigma is that eating out is somewhat of a luxury in Europe whereas in America it is extremely normal. Prices are in general much higher here when eating out, the menus more varied (no thousand island dressing here, no burgers (at least, not in most places)) and people tend to dress up before going out.
A 'doggy bag' simply does not go well with the image of going out when you look at it like that. So I think that it's as much custom as it is setting and social stigma, if you asked for a doggy bag in a restaurant your peers would assume that you are either broke or very very stingy.
Or that you had a dog :)
Of course this is just my experience, maybe other Europeans can add / detract from that by giving their perspective, this is mine.
As another European I agree. When we eat in a restaurant with my family its almost always the case that for some people the portions will be too big and for others too small. What we sometimes do is we just pick a dish for each person and each of us eats about 1/n'th of each dish, with the people who are more hungry eating more and the others less. I'm not sure if this would be considered bad manners (not that we'd change it, we're tasting n dishes instead of one and having more fun comparing what we like and don't like, especially if the restaurant is good).
I'm pretty sure that taking food with you in a bag is unfortunately considered bad manners :( Asking for a second plate and silver maybe a less so but still.
Just back from holiday in Scotland. We both asked for a doggy bag (for a slice of pizza) and asked for extra crockery+cultery on occassion (different restaurants).
I wouldn't have balked if they'd said no, but as I constantly say to my lad "you don't get if you don't ask" (which may not be true universally, but certainly is with me).
as here they imply simply bringing leftovers home, although it has been a very long time since I've heard the term doggy bag and am more accustomed to people asking if anyone wants a box or their leftovers wrapped up.
It took a while for me to get used to the US phenomenon of asking for leftovers to be "boxed up" and I've noticed a similar level of surprise with less travelled Europeans I've taken to the US.
I'm used to it now (though I still wouldn't ever do it myself) but this is not even slightly common or acceptable practice in the UK. Such a request wouldn't be met with disgust or offense, though, merely confusion. I doubt many places except Chinese restuarants/takeouts would have anything to put the food in anyway.
So, yeah, this is a very American practice from the UK POV. I'd be surprised if it weren't common somewhere in Europe, though, but I've never seen it happen on my travels.
Splitting a meal or asking for more utensils to share a dish isn't exactly common here either but it is done, especially in pubs or similarly low-end places.
Is it that Europeans see eating out as a signal of luxury and asking to take the rest of the food home somehow diminishes that perception ("oh look they must be poor if they are taking that left-over steak home..." kind of attitude). In other words are Europeans just afraid of looking bad, poor or stingy in front of others in a restaurant and Americans just don't care?
What if portion size wasn't a problem? Image that Europeans served same sized portions as Americans, would you take your leftovers home to be heated up for lunch then?
> In other words are Europeans just afraid of looking bad, poor or stingy in front of others in a restaurant and Americans just don't care?
I don't care what people think, but restaurants that don't do takeaway simply don't have containers to take food home. I've been to 10 restaurants this month, and none did takeaway.
Besides, a half-eaten reheated meal doesn't sound very appetizing. The sauce will have congealed or soaked up by the food, the pastry gotten soggy, etc. etc.
I asked for "a doggy bag for this pizza please" and got the response "will foil do?" and it did just fine. We use foil to wrap stuff for the fridge quite regularly if it doesn't fit in a tupperware (reusable rubberised plastic food storage box). Of course if it's soup or whatever you're probably not going to get it to take away.
Perhaps take your own tupperware with you, I'd love to see that.
Sadly I so rarely get to eat out that I tend to finish everything so I'm not likely to be taking a tupperware any time soon.
Fatigue with the particular dish (I don't want to eat the same thing within a day or two anyway), a mostly irrational "ick" hygiene factor, not wanting to carry food around (it's less common to be parked close to where you're eating in the UK), a lingering (though lessened) elitist attitude to the practice, and a fear of it being considered an unusual request.
Different cultures engage in slightly odd behaviors (such as the prevalence of stick shift cars in the UK) often because people are, en masse, afraid of being unusual and making a change. If restaurants made taking stuff home an obvious and acceptable policy, I'd probably deliberately eat only half the meal and do it from time to time.
It is uncommon here in the netherlands. My mom had a gastric bypass when i was very little but even at the age of 7 to 12 i alway felt emberessed when my mom asked for a doggy bag. Even our european sizes were way too much for her. Here it is/was almost concidered a sign of being poor and having no manners. I now think its super cool off her to go against the social stigma and is able to enjoy a restaurant meal for 2 to 3 days.
"Is it uncommon for European restaurants to bring out another plate/silverware if asked, or just considered bad manners?"
I did this the other day in my favorite Chinese restaurant. I wasn't hungry enough to eat an entire "Chinese-style Steak" myself, so I split the meal with my brother. Anytime my family has ever asked to get an extra plate it's never been a problem. (Also, there is this tendency to treat Europe as one big country, as if the customs in France are going to be equivalent to customs in, say, Sweden!)
"...I'm curious if doggy bags imply the same connotations where you are from, as here they imply simply bringing leftovers home,..." Funny story concerning "doggy bags": I worked at a hotel once. There was a wedding on one night, and there was a huge volume of food leftover (regular occurrence, the amount of food wasted in the hotel and restaurant business is eye-opening). One guest caught my attention as I was clearing plates, and said "was there any chance that I could bag up all the leftovers". I said no problem. Turns out he had greyhounds, and was looking to save money by feeding them leftovers from the wedding food. I bagged up all the leftovers and gave them to him. I was happy to do it because it was destined for the bin otherwise. Btw we don't use the expression "doggy bags" over here, but in this case it literally was a case of the food going into a "doggy bag".
In many places it is illegal for a restaurant to use the leftover food in a meaningful way (e.g. feed it to animals). Personally I think this is ridiculous, but it's supposed to prevent diseases from spreading.
"In many places it is illegal for a restaurant to use the leftover food in a meaningful way" that really is ridiculous. If there's a law like that where I live, I would deliberately flout it. The developed world has massive problems dealing with waste and I'm sure there's far bigger threats to public health than feeding your dog leftovers.
There's some great business opportunities around waste. I've read about entrepreneurs using methane from rubbish dumps to fuel heating systems. Some great fortunes are made in the waste business (turning trash into cash to use a cliche). I remember reading a great article about one guy who converted his Hummer to run on leftovers that he collected from local restaurants. Not only did his "mpg" increase, but his cost of running the Hummer decreased enormously (he even brought food sometimes, put it in a blender, and used the chopped up food as fuel - still cheaper than a tank of traditional petrol/gasoline). It was the "Green Hummer" or some similarly named project if you wish to Google around.
It's not that every restaurant obeys this law. I know two pigs who eat Chinese every night, and they love it. Their owner gets it from a local restaurant.
Feeding your own dog/chickens/whatever your own leftovers is not illegal fortunately.
In Germany (Hamburg and Berlin) I have never had problems when asking for additional plates or silverware to share meals. Also, a lot of places can and will pack your leftovers if you ask them, but I believe it's not quite as accepted as the 'doggy bag' is in the US.
When I was a kid I wouldn't feel obligated to finish everything on my plate. When I started buying my own food I almost always ate everything even if I was satisfied. I think subconciously I thought I should eat a little extra just in case I couldn't buy my next meal. Perhaps it's an evolutionary instinct.
Whilst I haven't done the research to back up such a strong statement, I feel that this form of childhood conditioning is strong & damaging enough to qualify as abusive parenting (semi-forced feeding + impact in later life). Doubling up with sugary rewards (dessert) if they force themselves to eat too much in the first place surely makes it even worse.
Of course, it's not the only factor that leads to obesity, but it's extremely outdated and idiotic practice.
Agreed. Most of the time, we don't eat until we feel full, we eat until we finish what we've got.
I can see the benefit to those who like to snack because they're hungry during the day - regularly drinking water will help ward off the hunger until meal time. In the end, though, it all boils down to common sense: the less you eat, the less weight you put on.
Comments
I'd like to know how much obesity is caused by a structural "finish everything on your plate" problem. By this I mean the tendency of certain folks to finish everything that is served, no matter what their hunger level is. Also, I've heard it said that people who eat from smaller plates will consume fewer calories over time.
In the study, the group given water also had their food portions slashed by a substantial amount. What happens if the portions stay the same size? How many people will read or see re-hashed versions of this study in their daily papers or news and simply prefix a large glass of water before their dinners, only to find that it has made no difference?
Getting over the cultural teaching that I must eat everything that is served in that sitting was the KEY to my weight loss, personally. I had no real dietary changes. I found that if I just ate slower and stopped when I felt satisfied most meals were nearly twice the size they needed to be. Another upside of this is it is cost effective to grab lunch and have the left overs for dinner (or the reverse)
Agreed. I now try to stop eating the instant I feel the slightest desire to stop. It seems to me that I've been programmed to ignore this impulse.
This is especially true of America where portion sizes are gigantic and people consider themselves primarily bargain-hunters rather than experience-seekers. It is amazing to me how much Americans will complain if a restaurant offers portion sizes just a little bit smaller than other restaurants in the area, even if the quality is much higher.
"people consider themselves primarily bargain-hunters rather than experience-seekers"
I suspect changing this attitude, more even than the promotion of local/organic/sustainable food production, could be the biggest social benefit of the foodie movement.
It is interesting how popular media plays into this. On a Food Network's chef competition on chef made a typical "American" size portion for one of the dishes. The judges really didn't like that.
On the other hand typical American restaurants often insert sarcastic lines in their TV ads about how our portions are nothing like "French" portions -- you really get a bang for your buck when you eat here.
So it seems like there are 2 very different attitudes and 2 very different types of consumers. Both are catered to by different types of businesses.
I think the portion size has also been a hint as to how much a person should be eating. Those have been used more by the food processing industry to "mask" the caloric content of their products, rather than by consumers to modulate their food intake appropriately.
A big problem with food in America is that High Fructose Corn Syrup is spiked in almost everything frozen and canned foods these days (sure, you may avoid it at home - but not all restaurants are treated equal). The biggest problem with HFCS is eating satiety (or feeling of fullness) is offset considerably.
Recently I crossed the country with my parents to visit my grandma. She was born in the 1920s and spent a large part of her childhood in the Lower East Side, so it's quite a culture shock to visit her. In her case, it's not that you have to finish everything on the plate - it's that as soon as you finish one item, you're compelled to try three more. Or in other words, large quantities of food is the only form of hospitality she's really familiar with.
However this strategy arose, all her children have rejected it, which leads me to believe that these sorts of things can change quickly between generations. On the other hand, my parents are still erring on the side of "low-fat" style nutrition, even though I've told them repeatedly that it's been essentially debunked.
I wonder, what bad nutritional advice will I cling to desperately when I'm older?
My grandparents and other elders were "food pushers," too, and I sometimes wonder whether it all stemmed from them spending their formative years in the Great Depression. It seems like those of us raised by them, unless we reject it, could still be experiencing a ripple effect from a time when there was never enough food, and the consequences of still acting like there's not enough when there's in fact way too much.
Plenty of it, but that's also because typically people will prepare (or expect to be prepared for them in restaurants) unbelievable amounts of food.
I weigh about 70 Kg and a half portion in any US restaurant is more than enough for me. I always feel bad about sending food back to the kitchen but I'd feel even worse for overeating.
In American restaurants, it's pretty typical for patrons to get their leftovers wrapped up to go (though this is less common at fancier restaurants).
I find this is somewhat dependent on the restaurant I'm at. I'm a stable 60-65Kg, but I hungrily consume almost anything in front of me, except at the most excessive of restaurants.
High metabolism?
Or something like that
Technology has allowed us to produce massive amounts of food very inexpensively. The restaurant portions are evidence of that. We can grow, process and deliver food much more inexpensively than we did 30 years ago.
Go into a Bojanles and order a large hash brown as a side order for breakfast. It's enough potatoes for three or four adults.
A lot of times in the States I'll order an appetizer and then a side salad or bowl of soup. Together it comes out to about what a meal should be.
Yeah, my wife and I always have to remember to split an entree at US restaurants. Once we split an appetizer, and, not having been that hungry in the first place, were basically good for the evening.
The portions there really are huge.
Well I can name one place where portions are exactly the right size and it's McDonald's. E.g., cheeseburger plus the Caesar salad w/o chicken, plus french fries plus two apple pies plus a coke is about half the size of a meal in a regular restaurant. Which of course doesn't stop people like my girlfriend from bashing McDonald's as non-healthy and preferring places where "gourmet" burgers range from 1/3 to 1lb, i.e., the smallest one is bigger than the quarter-pounder.
I don't think McDonalds is as bad as some people make it out to be, but it's not all that great either. You're not getting high quality food there, and in terms of a "dining experience", the ambiance leaves something to be desired:-)
Not to single out McDonalds...I went to Wendy's the other day and got a medium (i.e. smallest) combo meal. The "medium" drink I was given was a 32oz cup. If it were a HFCS drink, it probably would have been just as many calories as the food itself.
The food quality/quantity is a secondary concern if you're doubling them with a sugary beverage.
For this reason, I generally share a meal when I'm eating out.
That would be 'not done' in plenty of places.
I've asked for half portions for the full price instead, they just laugh at me.
That seems kind of weird, most places will bring out an extra plate for you to share/split with someone as soon as you ask.
I can however see them laugh at the half portions at full price (just take the leftovers if you feel bad for wasting food, maybe you could even give it to a bum if you can't bring the food home).
It's a cultural thing. As a European in North America you find lots of those things where the 'right' thing to do is less than obvious, and restaurant etiquette is one of those.
Americans visiting Europe would find themselves in a similar situation if they asked for a doggie bag. Most places wouldn't even be prepared to handle such a request.
But then again, the portions are so much smaller that a request of that nature is unlikely.
Is it uncommon for European restaurants to bring out another plate/silverware if asked, or just considered bad manners?
I'm genuinely curious, but perhaps I misunderstood what you were saying.
Also I'm curious if doggy bags imply the same connotations where you are from, as here they imply simply bringing leftovers home, although it has been a very long time since I've heard the term doggy bag and am more accustomed to people asking if anyone wants a box or their leftovers wrapped up.
> Is it uncommon for European restaurants to bring out another plate/silverware if asked, or just considered bad manners?
I'd hate to try :) I've never ever seen anybody do that, except for maybe asking for an extra spoon to share a desert.
> Also I'm curious if doggy bags imply the same connotations where you are from, as here they imply simply bringing leftovers home, although it has been a very long time since I've heard the term doggy bag and am more accustomed to people asking if anyone wants a box or their leftovers wrapped up.
I think that part of the stigma is that eating out is somewhat of a luxury in Europe whereas in America it is extremely normal. Prices are in general much higher here when eating out, the menus more varied (no thousand island dressing here, no burgers (at least, not in most places)) and people tend to dress up before going out.
A 'doggy bag' simply does not go well with the image of going out when you look at it like that. So I think that it's as much custom as it is setting and social stigma, if you asked for a doggy bag in a restaurant your peers would assume that you are either broke or very very stingy.
Or that you had a dog :)
Of course this is just my experience, maybe other Europeans can add / detract from that by giving their perspective, this is mine.
As another European I agree. When we eat in a restaurant with my family its almost always the case that for some people the portions will be too big and for others too small. What we sometimes do is we just pick a dish for each person and each of us eats about 1/n'th of each dish, with the people who are more hungry eating more and the others less. I'm not sure if this would be considered bad manners (not that we'd change it, we're tasting n dishes instead of one and having more fun comparing what we like and don't like, especially if the restaurant is good).
I'm pretty sure that taking food with you in a bag is unfortunately considered bad manners :( Asking for a second plate and silver maybe a less so but still.
Just back from holiday in Scotland. We both asked for a doggy bag (for a slice of pizza) and asked for extra crockery+cultery on occassion (different restaurants).
I wouldn't have balked if they'd said no, but as I constantly say to my lad "you don't get if you don't ask" (which may not be true universally, but certainly is with me).
The UK is a bit more of a mix between Europe and US when it comes to food and restaurants etiquette.
In France, I've seen myself denied the extra cutlery before (after leaving for some years in Asia, I was used to share food...)
That it was pizza and you were in Scotland instead of France probably helped.
I live in London and I frequently split a meal with someone. I have never had a restaurant complain.
The UK is not Europe, as anyone in the UK or Europe will tell you ;)
Frequent US traveller here from the UK.
as here they imply simply bringing leftovers home, although it has been a very long time since I've heard the term doggy bag and am more accustomed to people asking if anyone wants a box or their leftovers wrapped up.
It took a while for me to get used to the US phenomenon of asking for leftovers to be "boxed up" and I've noticed a similar level of surprise with less travelled Europeans I've taken to the US.
I'm used to it now (though I still wouldn't ever do it myself) but this is not even slightly common or acceptable practice in the UK. Such a request wouldn't be met with disgust or offense, though, merely confusion. I doubt many places except Chinese restuarants/takeouts would have anything to put the food in anyway.
So, yeah, this is a very American practice from the UK POV. I'd be surprised if it weren't common somewhere in Europe, though, but I've never seen it happen on my travels.
Splitting a meal or asking for more utensils to share a dish isn't exactly common here either but it is done, especially in pubs or similarly low-end places.
> though I still wouldn't ever do it myself)
Why do you think that is?
Is it that Europeans see eating out as a signal of luxury and asking to take the rest of the food home somehow diminishes that perception ("oh look they must be poor if they are taking that left-over steak home..." kind of attitude). In other words are Europeans just afraid of looking bad, poor or stingy in front of others in a restaurant and Americans just don't care?
What if portion size wasn't a problem? Image that Europeans served same sized portions as Americans, would you take your leftovers home to be heated up for lunch then?
> In other words are Europeans just afraid of looking bad, poor or stingy in front of others in a restaurant and Americans just don't care?
I don't care what people think, but restaurants that don't do takeaway simply don't have containers to take food home. I've been to 10 restaurants this month, and none did takeaway.
Besides, a half-eaten reheated meal doesn't sound very appetizing. The sauce will have congealed or soaked up by the food, the pastry gotten soggy, etc. etc.
I asked for "a doggy bag for this pizza please" and got the response "will foil do?" and it did just fine. We use foil to wrap stuff for the fridge quite regularly if it doesn't fit in a tupperware (reusable rubberised plastic food storage box). Of course if it's soup or whatever you're probably not going to get it to take away.
Perhaps take your own tupperware with you, I'd love to see that.
Sadly I so rarely get to eat out that I tend to finish everything so I'm not likely to be taking a tupperware any time soon.
Duh, you're right, any restaurant would have aluminium foil. I bet the question would surprise them though.
Perhaps you could use surprise negotiating tactics -
You: "can I have a mop bucket to take my food home in please?"
Waiter: "perhaps if we just wrapped it in foil ...?"
I eat fairly simply, so leftovers are usually the best tasting thing in my fridge!
Why do you think that is?
A handful of reasons, I think.
Fatigue with the particular dish (I don't want to eat the same thing within a day or two anyway), a mostly irrational "ick" hygiene factor, not wanting to carry food around (it's less common to be parked close to where you're eating in the UK), a lingering (though lessened) elitist attitude to the practice, and a fear of it being considered an unusual request.
Different cultures engage in slightly odd behaviors (such as the prevalence of stick shift cars in the UK) often because people are, en masse, afraid of being unusual and making a change. If restaurants made taking stuff home an obvious and acceptable policy, I'd probably deliberately eat only half the meal and do it from time to time.
It is uncommon here in the netherlands. My mom had a gastric bypass when i was very little but even at the age of 7 to 12 i alway felt emberessed when my mom asked for a doggy bag. Even our european sizes were way too much for her. Here it is/was almost concidered a sign of being poor and having no manners. I now think its super cool off her to go against the social stigma and is able to enjoy a restaurant meal for 2 to 3 days.
"Is it uncommon for European restaurants to bring out another plate/silverware if asked, or just considered bad manners?"
I did this the other day in my favorite Chinese restaurant. I wasn't hungry enough to eat an entire "Chinese-style Steak" myself, so I split the meal with my brother. Anytime my family has ever asked to get an extra plate it's never been a problem. (Also, there is this tendency to treat Europe as one big country, as if the customs in France are going to be equivalent to customs in, say, Sweden!)
"...I'm curious if doggy bags imply the same connotations where you are from, as here they imply simply bringing leftovers home,..." Funny story concerning "doggy bags": I worked at a hotel once. There was a wedding on one night, and there was a huge volume of food leftover (regular occurrence, the amount of food wasted in the hotel and restaurant business is eye-opening). One guest caught my attention as I was clearing plates, and said "was there any chance that I could bag up all the leftovers". I said no problem. Turns out he had greyhounds, and was looking to save money by feeding them leftovers from the wedding food. I bagged up all the leftovers and gave them to him. I was happy to do it because it was destined for the bin otherwise. Btw we don't use the expression "doggy bags" over here, but in this case it literally was a case of the food going into a "doggy bag".
In many places it is illegal for a restaurant to use the leftover food in a meaningful way (e.g. feed it to animals). Personally I think this is ridiculous, but it's supposed to prevent diseases from spreading.
"In many places it is illegal for a restaurant to use the leftover food in a meaningful way" that really is ridiculous. If there's a law like that where I live, I would deliberately flout it. The developed world has massive problems dealing with waste and I'm sure there's far bigger threats to public health than feeding your dog leftovers.
There's some great business opportunities around waste. I've read about entrepreneurs using methane from rubbish dumps to fuel heating systems. Some great fortunes are made in the waste business (turning trash into cash to use a cliche). I remember reading a great article about one guy who converted his Hummer to run on leftovers that he collected from local restaurants. Not only did his "mpg" increase, but his cost of running the Hummer decreased enormously (he even brought food sometimes, put it in a blender, and used the chopped up food as fuel - still cheaper than a tank of traditional petrol/gasoline). It was the "Green Hummer" or some similarly named project if you wish to Google around.
It's not that every restaurant obeys this law. I know two pigs who eat Chinese every night, and they love it. Their owner gets it from a local restaurant.
Feeding your own dog/chickens/whatever your own leftovers is not illegal fortunately.
In Germany (Hamburg and Berlin) I have never had problems when asking for additional plates or silverware to share meals. Also, a lot of places can and will pack your leftovers if you ask them, but I believe it's not quite as accepted as the 'doggy bag' is in the US.
When I was a kid I wouldn't feel obligated to finish everything on my plate. When I started buying my own food I almost always ate everything even if I was satisfied. I think subconciously I thought I should eat a little extra just in case I couldn't buy my next meal. Perhaps it's an evolutionary instinct.
Whilst I haven't done the research to back up such a strong statement, I feel that this form of childhood conditioning is strong & damaging enough to qualify as abusive parenting (semi-forced feeding + impact in later life). Doubling up with sugary rewards (dessert) if they force themselves to eat too much in the first place surely makes it even worse.
Of course, it's not the only factor that leads to obesity, but it's extremely outdated and idiotic practice.
Agreed. Most of the time, we don't eat until we feel full, we eat until we finish what we've got.
I can see the benefit to those who like to snack because they're hungry during the day - regularly drinking water will help ward off the hunger until meal time. In the end, though, it all boils down to common sense: the less you eat, the less weight you put on.