A must sound off !

Nothing makes me angrier than people who waste food. Last night Mike and I had dinner at our local Golden Corral, we sat across from a young couple with a son of about four or five and a daughter of about two or three in a high chair. As we were seated the little girl greeted us, of course we returned the greeting. This couple had obviously taken their obligation to teach their children manners seriously as the kids were well behaved. What got me was that in front of the little girl was a plate with more food on it than I could have eaten, if I had not eaten all day.As each family member went for another plate of food,they inevitably brought more food for the little girl, a few green beans here, some mac and cheese there.The Mother once commented that with all of the food that they were feeding her, she wouldn't have to eat for a week( I hope she was kidding and didn't actually think that this could work. At one point this little girl , with two full plates in front of her was obviously full and said no more loudly and clearly. The family repeated No More !The server came by and removed the two plates of untouched food. Then three minutes later the Mother goes and gets a plate full( I mean heaping) of fruit, a bowl of ice cream, and a piece of cake and proceeded to put it in front of this little girl. The Mother than went back for her own dessert. The little girl took a bite of ice cream and the Mother forced an orange section into her before the girl refused to eat any more.At this point the family grabbed their coats and left. I was sick to my stomach as there was of course 99% of the desert that the girl left , plus a couple other full plates that the rest of the family wasted left on the table.
What is wrong with people who purposely waste food ? Do they not realize that it drives up costs for these buffet restaurants and the cost is always passed on to you and I ? Obviously they don't care !I am saddened by the amount of food that Americans waste on a daily basis. Last summer I went to a family reunion where a cousin of mine's kids were piling their plates past capacity when I told them to go and eat what they had and then come back if they still wanted more. Though this did not upset my cousin, she commented," They do waste so much food, but what can you do ?" Uhhhhhhh stop them !!!!!!!!!! Come on people..... We are parents, we do not tolerate other bad behaviors do we ? Why would we tolerate total wastefulness ? If these were my kids, they would be forced to finish what they put on their plate ( within reason sometimes things simply don't taste good but that is why we teach to take a small amount and come back ( duh !))if it took them three days of being given nothing else , Once and they would learn. Obviously this is not on most parents lists of disciplinary actions , just go to your local Buffet and it is clear !