Can't Finish Your Meal? Ask for a Doggy Bag!
Every year billions of tons of food are wasted. Now Monaco takes action!
As someone from the UK, I wouldn't think too long and hard about asking for a doggy bag in a restaurant. If I have left overs that I wanted to keep I would certainly ask the question.
The same however cannot be said about wine...although to be honest I would probably just stay at the table until the bottle was finished! But what if you could ask for a take away doggy box, and for that matter a take away bag for your wine without fear of embarrassment?
Two years ago "Monaco Takes Action against Food Waste" was created. It was in response to the statistic that 3.3 gigatons of greenhouse are created per year due to food waste. This makes food waste the third biggest polluter in the world after the US and China! As part of the project, partner establishments have been offering "doggy-bag" boxes and paper bags to clients who haven't finished their meal or their bottle of wine.
A similar system has been implemented in France, but it's success is yet to be proven...the French opinion that it is 'not the done thing' to ask for a doggy bag, may be a hard habit to break, especially in a culture that prides itself on its culinary excellence they may have a long way to go before this becomes the norm.
However there are already a handful of restaurants in Monaco who offer the "doggy-bag", and it looks like more may be set to follow. You can see a list of participating restaurants on the Gaspillage Alimentaire website.
