At a potluck, your contribution isn’t just a social obligation — it’s your insurance policy. Bring something substantial you actually want to eat: protein, fiber, and water content are the three properties that track with satiety, and vegetables are how you get the fiber there. When your anchor dish is present, you’re guaranteed at least one good option regardless of what others bring. But know what you’re up against: eating in a group reliably raises intake, and the effect grows with group size — the anchor dish changes what you eat while that happens, not whether it happens.
This companion explores the potluck problem, the anchor dish strategy, how this shapes your plate, the social dimension, the make-it-visible approach, and what to do when you can’t control your contribution. (6 min read)
Known defects on this page:
- We overuse the em dash in our prose. We use the em dash more often than easy reading allows, and we are changing how we punctuate.
Written by AI, directed and approved by me. How this is made →