Because if you respect the rice, you respect the farmer that has worked hard to produce it. That should lead you to caring a bit more to not waste the food.

Granted in this mechanized world, that might be misplaced as it might have been produced by a fleet of robots for a corporation. There might be more complicated factors regarding food wastage. And so on. But since me and my family have started thinking this way, we are more careful of how much we cook, what we buy and how we consume. That has resulted in us hardly throwing away food due to excess/carelessness etc.

I think there could be a couple of reasons:

1. If it's meat, then some animal gave its life and respecting that is part of treating animals with dignity.

2. From a Christian perspective, all good things are given by God. I suspect that many religions have some sort of parallel belief and even an Atheist could respect the science (e.g. animal husbandry) that allowed them to have access to the food.

3. I have heard that there is evidence that expressing gratitude promotes happiness.

4. Taking the idea of "respect" more abstractly, taking the enjoyment of food seriously is a big part of culture and what it means to be human.

Not OP, but the respect comes from the idea that the food exists and you're able to eat it. We are extraordinarily lucky (or as religious folks might say, blessed) to live in a time where being ambivalent about dinner-time is an option.

>why? It's fuel. I don't take a moment to respect the water I drink, or the bed that lets me sleep.

You would discover that they're worthy of very much respect if you were to lose either, even for a moderate while...

Paul Klee, an Swiss/German painter took it even further when he wrote:

"Imagine you are dead. After many years in exile, you are permitted to cast a single glance earthward. You see a lamppost and an old dog lifting his leg against it. You are so moved that you cannot help sobbing."

Is it so bewildering to you that someone could be thankful for the food they’re about to eat? Not everyone in the world has stable access to food.

I guess it's a sign of human progress that the basic idea of being grateful for having food, as opposed to NOT having food, wouldn't occur to some people.

I'd say it's a sign of the progress of access to food - but not necessarily of human progress (e.g. humans becoming better).

Plentiful access or not, respect for what we get to have, has many other benefits, and goes beyond the mere satisfaction of our needs/desires.

You might try it. Gratitude is a pleasant emotion. Expressing gratitude together as part of a group (such as the family before a meal) improves relationships.

Faking emotion to satisfy a group probably doesn't improve relationships.

Try eat raw grain. Try drink rainwater. Try sleep on ground. Go to nearest war (to aid victims, not to participate in the war), and you will be very respectful for anything you have at the current moment.

When I feel sad I step outside without dressing myself appropriately. After a short while cold becomes uncomfortable, then very unpleasant. I gain new appreciation for the "everpresent warmth that winnners surround themselves with" (that's from a book by Joan D. Vinge). I go back inside and feel less sad and making money seems less pointless.

Well, there are two immediate benefits. First, through "respecting the food" you categorize it as something of value beyond fuel, which may increase your appreciation and enjoyment of the food. And second, in context of the article, the ritual of respecting the food seems to give you better self control over your relationship with the food.

Try going without comfortable sleep for a time. I can guarantee you that even a short period will massively affect all your daytime performance; lack of food even worse. It's one of the things that seem boring until you no longer have them.

I have spent about 2 years of my adult life sleeping on the floor. The first week is weird. The second week is better. After that it's just normal.

You adapt.

Some objective criteria: with more focus, you are likely to chew more, and therefore to digest better.