Nudge to Prevent Food Wastage

I found this board in a cafeteria at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.  The sign board mentions the wastage of food in weight (Kilograms) of the previous day and the number of people who could have been fed with that amount of food. 

Although breakfast at the cafeteria is a limited serving, a considerable proportion of the people can't finish their meal. To know if the sign board indeed helps reduce wastage, there are several aspects that we need to consider. Firstly, the sign board can, as hoped, make people actively ask for the quantity of food that they think they can finish. This is troublesome for people who are new to the cafeteria. Regular customers, however,  would know exactly how much they would eat and would have no qualms in asking for a smaller quantity of food. Secondly, the sign board could also work as an incentive for people to try harder to finish all the food on their plate. Economists are probably the only ones who do not consume more than they want, by simply uttering the words "sunk cost". Evidence suggests that most people don't behave like Economists.  People often take the trouble to watch a game at the stadium even if rains, because they already paid for their tickets. Most people would, therefore, try as much as possible not to waste food. The breakfast at the canteen is subsidized and so people don't have too much of an incentive to waste food. To summarize, people, in general, would have an incentive not to waste, but because of low prices, this incentive is not as strong. Finally, it is also possible that the sign board could signal that wasting food is the norm and may serve as a justification for those who can't finish their meal. 

Wastage of food has a large impact on the world and we must all make an active choice to reduce this wastage. Wastage of food has an indirect harmful effect on everyone and this hits the poorest sections of the society the most. Wastage implies that people use more food than they need and so the demand for food raw materials and finished goods is higher. This excess demand for food leads to a rise in its prices and the resultant inflation affects everyone (more severely the poorer sections).  The economist Steven Landsburg, in his book "More sex is safer sex" says that Scrooge from the classic novel "A Christmas Carol" is doing the world a favor by being Miserly and not consuming more than he needs. 

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