When restaurants first shut down early in the pandemic, Americans raided grocery stores. They started cooking more at home — and, probably, producing more leftovers. Those leftovers can be a convenient future meal — but they’ve got a dark side, too.
“There’s a tendency that if you put an item on a plate that’s a leftover, there’s a higher probability that you’re not going to fully consume that item. And so it’s probably going to waste.”
With his colleagues, Brian Roe, an applied economist at the Ohio State University, recently studied leftovers and food waste by tracking the eating habits of 18 men and women in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The participants tracked what they ate using an iPhone app. And during the week-long study, the study subjects totally piled 1,200 different foods on their plates.
After analyzing what got eaten, saved or thrown away, the researchers found that leftovers were more likely to be picked at and not fully eaten — a finding we can all probably identify with.
But they also observed that leftovers — perhaps due to being older and less fresh — directed diners’ attention to the other, more novel items on their plate, which brings up an interesting possible strategy to get people to eat their veggies.
“I guess if you have an item that you don’t eat normally and you’re trying to get people to eat it, perhaps surrounding it with leftovers is a way to make them focus on the newest item on the plate.”
Overall, Roe says one bigger lesson appeared on how to avoid throwing food into the dustbin.
“For us, the real take-home here was: all else equal, choose a smaller meal, and you’re less likely to generate leftovers. And that’s a good thing because leftovers, all else equal, tend to be wasted more often.
“I’m guilty of this myself: we have things left over from last Thanksgiving still sitting in our freezer. And I know people who’ve moved with frozen items before — without ever getting around to eating them.”
12. What’s the disadvantage of the leftovers?
A.Leading to bad habits. | B.Tendency towards waste. |
C.Lack of deliciousness. | D.Causing a feeling of guilt. |
13. What is Roe’s suggestion for people to avoid leftovers?
A.Trying to cook less generally. | B.Putting the food in the fridge. |
C.Cooking more vegetables. | D.Dining with a phone in hand. |
14. Why did Roe feel guilty of himself?
A.He moved with frozen food. | B.He threw leftovers in the dustbin. |
C.He had some leftovers uneaten. | D.He always cooked more dishes. |
15. What is the text mainly about?
A.Americans cooked more in the pandemic. | B.More researches should be done on waste. |
C.Good eating habits can make you healthy. | D.Leftovers are actually a food-waste problem. |