The Guardian reports on a restaurant in London (not a halal one) which has a novel way of sorting out customers who order large amounts of food and then leave it on the plate to be thrown in the bin:
Adults will be reminded of their youth when they step into one Nigerian restaurant in east London and are faced with a £2.50 fine if they fail to finish their dinner. At the Obalende Suya Express restaurant in Dalston, the penalty for greed is donated straight to the local Oxfam shop.
The West African barbecue eatery attracts a full house every Sunday with its Grill Greedy buffet, with trays and dishes overflowing with steaming meats and fried plantain. As customers fill their plates, however, they can hardly miss a big red sign warning them to make sure they eat it all up. Lara Odebunmi, who owns the restaurant with her husband Toks, says: "We realised a lot of people were wasting their food rather than finishing it, just because they could 'eat as much as they liked'. They kept on taking but they were only ever able to finish one plateful. At the end of the night, we felt really bad dumping all this food into the bin."
I wonder how they enforce the fine ... but the idea of doing something to address the scourge of restaurant customers throwing out good food can only be a good one. Perhaps this is one thing Muslim restauranteurs should consider doing as well, as Islam frowns on (if not forbidding outright) the waste of food. There is one restaurant in London where I sometimes go where the staff came to suspect I was a Muslim because I always cleared my plate!
Assalamu alaikum, you know, when I was a kid, I was always told to clean my plate, but at school, and by my grandmother. So, it's interesting that now as a Muslim, how certain "islamic" concepts, I was tuaght as a child by non-Muslims. Does that amke any sense?
I remember being told to eat up all of my (horrible) semolina because the starving children in Africa would be glad of it. I hope they get better than semolina.
This is actually a good idea on the part of the restaurant.
When I lived in Korea, there was a restaurant I used to visit that had the same sort of fine system. The restaurant served beef and seafood tofu soups - almost as thick as a stew - for the main course, but also provided a number of other foods free of charge and all you can eat. It was the latter food that was subject to the fine if you left too much on your plate.
However, I never actually saw anyone (including myself) being charged more money than the normal price for the food. I think the threat of being charged more was deterrant enough for most people to clean their plates. :)
The standard sign on every Navy mess deck used to read, "Take all you want, but eat all you take."