Fines for Hong Kong diners who don’t finish their dinner
Caroline:
February 26th, 2007
For children growing up in the post war years, the refrain “You’re not getting down from the table until your plate is clear” was familiar. Nowadays parents are told not to make a fuss if their offspring don’t want to eat and as adults we are being advised to stop eating when we are full or risk weigh gain. Diners in Hong Kong however, are going to have to ignore that advice as restaurants threaten to start fining diners who leave anything on their plate. The reason is that Hong Kong is running out of landfill sites to dispose of their waste and is trying to encourage people to think before ordering something which they cannot finish. It all sounds a bit Orwellian although the good news for my daughter’s boyfriend at least is that there must be a gap in the employment market for someone like him who has never been known to refuse seconds and hoovers up leftovers at speed!