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An American family I visited a while ago would use paper plates and plastic forks for every meal at home to save on dishes. I was shocked, but they seemed to th
by weavie 8y ago
An American family I visited a while ago would use paper plates and plastic forks for every meal at home to save on dishes. I was shocked, but they seemed to think it was standard behaviour in the US. Is it?
- eesmith 8y agoFor some families, yes, it is.
- weavie 8y agoAny idea on the demographics?
- eesmith 8y agoNo. Simply that I've visited people (I'm from the US) who do that.
- tfolbrecht 8y agoIt's common in the rural southern United States. Big box stores sell hundreds of plates and napkins for a few dollars. The justifications I've heard is that it's a lot of labor saved if the family is sufficiently large and the woman is expected to do all the cooking and cleaning.
- alkonaut 8y ago> to save on dishes To save what, money or labor? I fail to see how this could be economical in the sense "cheaper"?
- weavie 8y agoI believe labour, all that time spent scrubbing plates...
- Cthulhu_ 8y agoAnd to think the dishwasher was invented in the US, :p.
- francisofascii 8y agoWell, if you are comparing to a dishwasher. A cheap paper place costs about 2-3 cents. A dishwasher cycle is "pricy" if you consider the wear and tear, water usage, energy, and detergent.
- tallanvor 8y agoIt's not really normal, but it's probably more normal than it should be. Growing up, my family rarely used paper plates except in a few circumstances - parties where there are more people than you have plates for, and when going on a picnic. Aside from that we never used paper plates.
- shankr 8y agoI have heard similar stories from other people who visited USA. So it does seem to be a normal behavior.
- pault 8y agoAs a USA-ian, I've never seen this and would be appalled if I did.
- workinthehead 8y agoIt's more of a poor (dare I say "trailer trash") southern thing in my experience.
- shankr 8y agoThis was a first-hand experience of a German guy who lived as a exchange student in Florida. His host family would serve food in plastic plates to avoid doing dishes.
- baxtr 8y agoEvery time I visit I’m shocked how much single-use plastics is used, daily. It’s part of the culture and thus hard to change
- woogiewonka 8y agoI wouldn't say it's standard but it doesn't surprise me. People who work late, have too much on their plate (pun), would probably not shy away from using a single use plate. I know I've done it myself (shame on me) but hey, I'm trying now!
- rconti 8y agoNo, it's not standard behavior. You're most likely to see paper plates and plastic forks at picnics/cookouts and occasionally large gatherings where you may not have enough non-disposable dishes to serve everyone.