We just spend 9 days in Iceland and let me tell you, it is an incredible place to visit. Some of the friendliest people, best food, most beautiful scenery and interesting folklore/culture I’ve ever seen. Add it to your list if its not on there. 

While there we learned some things. Some directly from Iceland and Icelanders, some things were just some revelations. I am going to write a few in a short series. Hope you enjoy.

Number 1–Clean your Plate is Wrong

Growing up I was told to clean my plate. If you don’t eat whats on your plate, you are wasteful and there are starving kids in ____. I have even been guilty of this. I think we do this wrong. In Iceland, they recycle everything and every little apartment we stayed in had 4 bins–paper, cans and bottles, regular waste and food waste. The first three were the same size. The 4th one–food waste–was TINY. This got me thinking, I think we should not teach our kids to clean their plate. I think instead we should teach them to only take what they need and that they can come back for more. And even if they can’t come back for more, they can wait till the next meal. 

Clean your plate teaches that whatever you heap on, you have to consume all of it. So you don’t want to miss out– plus your brain is often more hungry than your body. Then we overeat and get fat. We also sometimes take bigger portions up front and that prevents others from getting some of that dish. We’ve all been to that potluck and seen that first hand. 

I am going to switch to take some of what you want. Sit, enjoy, eat slow. Let everyone get some. Then, if there is more, go back. I don’t even care if you go back for thirds as long as everyone has a chance. Keep the food waste container small but not at the expense of making our waistlines big. Yes, clean your plate. But do it because you didn’t overfill it to begin with. 

This applies to way more things than just your dinner plate BTW.