Of Waste and Waists: The Effect of Plate Material on Food Consumption and Waste

Abstract

Two lab studies and three field studies indicate that plate disposability influences the amount of food wasted. The first lab study indicates that more food served on disposable (i.e., paper) plates is wasted than when the same food is served on permanent (i.e., hard plastic) plates. Study 2 employs an implicit association test (IAT) to confirm that disposable plates are strongly associated with behavior to stop eating while, simultaneously, permanent plates are more strongly associated with a keep eating behavior. Three field studies (3A, 3B, and 3C) indicate that this effect maintains when instead of being served a fixed quantity of food, participants select the amount and type of food.