Used but uneaten. Photo: David Poon
As if overeating wasn’t already a problem, now we are offered the option to eat our dishes.
Large, hollowed out loaves of bread known as “bread bowls” have become a trendy addition to the menu of a startling amount of chain restaurants.
They are fully operational bowls, filled with soup, pasta, chili, dip, quiche and even salad, and customers love it.
I once watched a woman practically throw her tray back at the cashier after her broccoli and cheese soup was served in ceramic.
However, after the meal was returned to her in the sourdough she requested, she ate the soup, leaving the bowl that had caused so much controversy, on the tray.
Perhaps eating food out of this edible dish has just become a trendy comfort, rather than a practical choice?
While it’s made to eat, this fad could also be criticized as a source of food waste. Jonathan Bloom, author of wastedfood.com, recently posted a link to this picture, providing visual acknowledgement of this possibility.
The stacked bowls were proof of how the one woman I saw wasn’t alone in not using the bowl as an actual source of food.
In fact, it made me think of all the restaurants in the region that serve these: Dominos Pizza, Panera Bread, Cosi, Quiznos Subs, Grand Traverse Pie Company, Ohio University, and Atlanta Bread Company, just to name a few. Over 100 billion pounds of food is wasted every year in America, I wonder how much of it is bowls made of bread?
My parents always told me I should clean my plate so I wasn’t wasting food. Well, I guess now we might have to start eating them too.
I never realized there was so much waste of bread until you pointed this out Haley….especially since we live in a country of extremes, that is we have people who overeat and are obese and we have people increasingly going to the food banks just to survive…this is just one example of the waste from restaurants…
I know of one restaurant in my town — they literally have about 50 different desserts….at least they donate it to homeless shelters etc
We need to be more conscious of how our choices impact our environment so I appreciate this educational piece. Good work, Haley! Keep it up.
Haley, I admit I think the bread bowls are pretty neat, but I think the problem may be portion size rather than the idea of the bowls themselves. But I see your point, keep up the good work.