Can a smaller plate help you reduce food waste?

Apparently so, according to recent research. The following infographic points out that our dinner plates have actually grown by 51% since 1900. Those bigger plates are pushing us to serve ourselves bigger portions because the ration between food and plate surface we are trying to achieve. From the work of mathematician and psychologist Joseph Delboeuf we can read that container size affects how we perceive the amount of food we serve. In essence, a bigger plate equals a bigger portion.

And the portions have been growing with the plates since 1900. Even modern cookbooks incorporate larger portions when composing recipes for dinner dishes. While we serve ourselves more, we are more likely to send some of that food into the trash can once we are finished. In 2010 the US threw away 141 trillion calories, an equivalent of us throwing 20 oranges into the bin every day.

So the next time you are cooking dinner or having a house party, think of using smaller plates and containers when setting the table and preparing the food. Of course you don't want to scare off your guests by serving soup from an espresso cup but you get the idea.

Until next time,

Laura