Farmers busy in harvesting early-season rice and transplanting late rice in Central China's  Hunan Province. Photo: Xinhua

More and more restaurants and catering associations in China have issued appeals and guidelines to prevent food waste, and restaurants are offering half-portions and order recommendations to save food as the country carries out a "Clean Your Plate Campaign 2.0" in full swing. 

Consumers reached by the Global Times on Sunday shared their latest dining-out experiences. They noted that restaurant measures and slogans had raised their awareness of valuing food, which was taught at school but is somewhat neglected in daily life. 

Industry associations like the World Federation of Chinese Catering Industry and China Cuisine Association, and at least 18 provincial industry associations, have issued appeals asking the industry to curb waste. 

A canteen for a state-owned enterprise in Beijing provides an eight-dish buffet for its employees. The canteen asked chefs to adjust the quantity of the ingredients for each dish. "For example, the chef cooks half the ingredients for a dish. If employees dislike that dish, the chef will not cook the second half and the ingredients will be preserved for later use," the manager of the canteen surnamed Lin, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

North China's Shanxi Province issued a notice to canteens of government offices, asking them to provide small and half-portions. It also encouraged canteens to register people coming to eat so they could purchase ingredients accordingly, according to a Friday report by local newspaper the Shanxi Daily. 

The notice, which was issued by Shanxi Government Offices Administration, said that catering for official events such as conferences and trainings should give preference to buffet-style meals, said the news report. 

Restaurants have also joined the campaign, offering dishes in customized sizes, giving order recommendations for customers and providing free takeaway boxes. Some also imposed "leftover fines" to prevent people from ordering too much. 

Zhang Xiaoyan, a Beijing resident, told the Global Times on Sunday that she went to a barbecue restaurant over the weekend and took the leftovers home. "The waitress asked whether I wanted to take the unfinished food home, and I thought for a bit before saying yes."

 "We all learned the ancient poem in primary school about farmers' sweat dripping into the soil, and every morsel of our meal coming with toil and pain. But we forget about it when we grow up," Zhang said She also recalled seeing slogans for "ordering the appropriate amount, save food" in the restaurant.

Many netizens joined the campaign by sharing pictures of their empty plates after meals on social media, and the hashtag "clean plate challenge" received 240 million reads as of press time.

But there are also concerns over rigid implementation in practice, such as a "10-1" appeal — 10 people ordering food sufficient for nine, which has been criticized by many netizens. The Wuhan catering industry association, which issued the appeal, explained later that the rule was more of an advisory suggesting people should order less at first and add more dishes if needed. 

A restaurant in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, which included leftovers in waiters' performance assessments, also sparked controversy. 

"The move may be intended to urge waiters to stop customers from ordering too much, but what if a customer does not listen? The waiter should not pay the price for a customer," a net user posted. 

Clean Your Plate is an important campaign to address food waste problems, but it is important not to distort the original good intention or create new problems such as excessive use of takeaway boxes, analysts said. 

Fan Anqi contributed to this story