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Buffet Waste

Discussion in 'Restaurants & Buffets' started by Willy Makeamess, Jul 21, 2014.

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  1. Willy Makeamess

    Willy Makeamess Tourist

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    Just back from Vegas after a fantastic 2 weeks and I thought I'd put this one out there...

    The wife and I visited buffets at Red Rock,Rio,Orleans and Gold Coast and really enjoyed them,however the amount of food that people were leaving on their plates all around us was pretty sickening.
    Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my food in Vegas and I'll go up half a dozen times trying different dishes but I'll eat whatever I bring back.
    It just seems a bit perverse to me that people are wasting good food by piling it on their plates whilst people are sitting outside in bus stops with cups begging.

    Am I being a drama queen or does this annoy anyone else?
     
  2. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    There was an article in {mumble - RJ? Sun?} a few years back that said that most of the buffet waste was sold in bulk to a large hog producer in the area.
     
  3. Big Tip

    Big Tip VIP Whale

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    You aren't a drama queen, you're just a good Scott! Waste not want not. lol

    I hate seeing the waste too. But it probably has something to do with in the back of my mind I think the waste will somehow make the price of the buffet go up next time I come.
    Or maybe because of the lectures from my mom when I was a child about cleaning my plate because of the starving kids in Africa.
     
  4. Okie2Vegas

    Okie2Vegas Tourist

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    On Bizarre Foods America they showed the waste going from MGM properties only to a hog farm outside Las Vegas. They "pay" for the cost of sorting & hauling the waste with the retention costs of pulling out silverware, etc. that shouldn't be thrown away and putting back in use. I think they said save $2 million a year from retrieving the silverware. To complete the circle of life, so to speak, MGM buys pork produced from that hog farm.
    I agree that one should try to avoid wasting food and eat what you take barring not liking something. Hopefully, in that case, one just took a small bit to try vs. loading up whole plate and realizing that.
     
  5. degeneratewho

    degeneratewho Tourist

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    +1, I saw it on tv also, either on food or travel channel they did an episode showing the process.
     
  6. wellmel

    wellmel Low-Roller

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    You're paying for all you can eat, I don't see the harm in trying different food and leaving whatever you don't eat. Especially if they use the waste towards feeding pigs. I'm guilty of doing this. I pay for all I can eat and if I don't end up liking something I try or if I get too full, then I'm darn well not going to eat it. I shouldn't have to stuff myself with things I don't want because of guilt over waste.
     
  7. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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  8. HoyaHeel

    HoyaHeel Grammar Police & Admin

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    Pretty sure Mike Rowe did an episode of Dirty Jobs at the buffet/hog farm too:thumbsup:
     
  9. Ty

    Ty ?

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    I agree. It was fun to watch.
     
  10. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    So ... the epitome of recycling ... go to buffet and take a boatload of bacon, eat only half of it, buffet busser puts it in can/bag for farmer, farmer feeds it to hogs, farmer takes hogs to packing house, packing house makes bacon, buffet cook cooks bacon -- rinse, repeat!

    LOL, shades of that classic "The Taco Cycle" in NatLamp many decades ago. :)
     
  11. exds

    exds Low-Roller

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    In this sense I think you and I came from the same Easter basket. It's hard for me to see waste of any kind when literally steps or seconds away was someone begging for what was thrown away.

    That being said, Vegas is the epitome of excess. That is one of reasons why so many like to go to Vegas because for a little while we can live larger than our everyday lives. You can see it on the faces of new visitors to vegas, the shock of excessive money, excessive drinking and eating and sexual exploit.
     
  12. Googleboots

    Googleboots Tourist

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    I haven't been to very many buffets where I haven't tried something and hated it. I'm not exclusively talking about food that I wouldn't normally eat; I'm talking about simple stuff like meatballs, pizza, or sausage. If it's old/cold, I'm not going to eat it. Sometimes it's something I really like, only to find out I now have a plate of rock-hard chicken. I can't be the only one that this applies to, but from this one member, that's about 90% of my buffet waste. Food I won't eat for freshness reasons. IMO your outrage only grants you partial drama-queen status.
     
  13. exds

    exds Low-Roller

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    I take one thing back. I don't think excessive waste can apply to sex.:confused2:
     
  14. Kickin

    Kickin Flea

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    I thought the food that went to the hog farm was just the leftovers from the kitchen and trays, not stuff people left on their plate. Wouldn't they need to preserve the traceability (i.e. chain of custody) for food that goes into animal feed? Wouldn't the USDA require that? Anyone know for sure?
     
  15. sm2420

    sm2420 Tourist

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    Same here, when I take a plate of something, I usually first take a small sampling, because I hate to waste food but when the food turns out to be terrible tasting, then you really don't have much choice but to waste... some of the food at these buffets are non edible, and I'm not a picky eater.
     
  16. DeMoN2318

    DeMoN2318 The DERS

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    Dirty jobs had an episode on this...
     
  17. LV_Bound

    LV_Bound VIP Whale

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    Is it really that surprising with today's society?

    I see people rush to grab that last 10 pieces of food only to find out they don't like it and just leave it on their plate.
    Why not grab a small sampling of each then go back for more of the items you like.
     
  18. dfalk

    dfalk VIP Whale

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    Don't watch if you plan on eating soon!

    [YOUTUBE]KRkCQH02AxE[/YOUTUBE]
     
  19. sura83

    sura83 Low-Roller

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    I'm with you Willy - I don't like seeing people waste entire plates of food. I'm not saying I always eat every single bite of everything I take at a buffet, but I've seen some people who will leave a half-finished plate, then go back to the buffet line and come back with another plate piled high and end up leaving half (or more) of that one too! C'mon people - if a good share of the items weren't to your liking the first trip shouldn't you maybe be a little more cautious the next time? I applaud any restaurant that sends the wasted food to wherever to help control costs but it would still be more cost-effective if every diner just used a little restraint. "Take what you want, but want what you take" comes to mind.
     
  20. chef

    chef Resident Buffetologist

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    Agree 100 percent with OP>
     
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