Austin College East Asian Studies

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📸: Reuters

A meal that ends with half the food left on the table may not seem like a major problem, but when it happens thousands of times every day, the amount of wasted food becomes enormous. To address this issue, some cafés and restaurants in South Korea have introduced a simple policy: customers may be charged an additional fee if they leave excessive amounts of food unfinished. The goal is not to punish diners, but to encourage more thoughtful ordering and reduce avoidable waste.

The idea works by reminding customers to consider how much they can realistically eat before placing an order. Instead of automatically choosing the largest portions or ordering more than necessary, diners are encouraged to match their selections to their appetite. As a result, less food ends up being discarded after meals. The policy also helps raise awareness about the resources involved in producing food, including water, energy, transportation, and labor. Even small reductions in waste can make a meaningful difference when multiplied across many customers.

What makes this approach particularly interesting is that it addresses food waste at its source. Rather than focusing only on recycling or disposal after food has been thrown away, it encourages people to prevent waste from occurring in the first place. By promoting mindful consumption, these cafés help customers develop habits that can be carried beyond the restaurant and into everyday life. It is a practical example of how a small policy change can encourage more sustainable behavior while helping reduce the amount of perfectly edible food that goes to waste.

With Japan's age of the full-time housewife in the past, a new book reflects on how a mother raised in Tokyo but living in the U.S. builds her home country's way of parenting into her daughters' upbringing.