France wages war on food waste with ‘le doggy bag’

● France could order all restaurants to provide doggy bags to cut down on waste and overcome traditional Gallic resistance to taking food home after eating out.

The radical plan to make “le doggy bag” compulsory in restaurants, bistros and cafes has been adopted by a parliamentary committee in an amendment to a wider food bill. The aim is to halve food waste by 2025.

While taking leftovers home is commonplace in many countries, the French have resisted despite a law passed last year that “strongly recommends” restaurants to persuade customers to leave with the remains of their meal.

An earlier campaign to promote such bags among restaurants was a flop, with only 10 000 sold among 180 000 eateries.

“It’s true that in France there is a psychological barrier, but that’s also because consumers don’t dare ask [for a doggy bag] for fear of being turned down by restaurateurs,” said Bérangère Abba, an MP and author of the amendment.

“Habits must change,” she told Le Parisien. Many French associate the practice with an “Anglo-Saxon” penchant for quantity over quality. In France, the traditional message to diners is “love it or leave it”.

Yet MPs behind the move say that five times as much food is wasted in restaurants than at home — some 157g per person per meal on average. A recent government report warned that wasted food costs the average French household à400 (R5 900) per year and the country up to à20-billion.

However, reactions were mixed among restaurateurs to the proposed legislation.

Hubert Jean, president of the restaurant branch of a hotel trade industry union, said: “It’s not very judicious to constrain the entire profession with rules on buying doggy bags when it’s an Anglo-Saxon practice that isn’t really part of French culture.” — ©The Daily Telegraph, London