People Tend to Clean Their Plate at Home.

• Position: FOOD WASTE - Brief article

When people eat at home, there typically is not much left on their plates--and that means there likely is less going to landfills, according to research from Ohio State University, Columbus.

The same people who, on average, left just three percent of their food on their plates when choosing their own meals left almost 40% behind when given a standard boxedlunch type of meal. Plate waste at home was 3.5% higher when diners went for seconds (or thirds).

Prior research typically has focused on "plate waste" in settings such as school cafeterias and buffets and found it ranges from about seven percent at an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet to 18% waste of French fries at an all-you-can-eat university dining hall.

This study is the first of its kind to follow adult eaters through...