You may feel a bit redfaced about asking for a doggy bag at the end of a
delicious meal out, but Belfast City Council is urging you to get over it — for
the environment.
The council has teamed up with chefs from Belfast Cookery School to
persuade restaurants to offer full-up diners a Bring Home Box in a bid to cut
the vast tonnes of food waste we generate each year. A typical restaurant dumps
some 21 tonnes of waste every year — equivalent to the weight of three double
decker buses. As well as adding to the waste mountain, it also increases costs
for food businesses. That’s why the council is asking restaurants to sign up to
the initiative as part of European Week for Waste Reduction (Nov 17-25).
“The Americans started the concept of the ‘doggy bag’ but it’s something
that has never really taken off on these shores — maybe because people feel too
embarrassed to ask to take their leftovers home, or because they think they’ll
be seen as greedy,” said Pat McCarthy (below), who chairs the council’s Health
and Environmental Services Committee. “Portion sizes can sometimes be quite big
and the way I see it, if you’ve paid for it, you’re entitled to take it home.” And
it looks like most restaurants are only too happy to provide a doggy bag when
asked.
The Belfast Telegraph contacted 10 of the city’s top restaurants, asking
if they could accommodate a relative who likes to take home her leftovers. Nine
said it was no problem. The 10th, 4th Wall in St Anne’s Square, said they
weren’t allowed to on health and safety grounds, because all food bought on the
premises must be eaten there.
According to the council, about a third of the waste from Belfast’s
restaurant comes from food left over on the diners’ plates — so it makes sense
to wrap it and take it home.” The Sustainable Restaurant Association, says 83%
of diners surveyed would like the option of being able to take leftovers home,
but didn’t think they could or were too embarrassed to ask. Shea Trainor, a
chef with Belfast Cookery School, said: “While restaurants try to get their
portion sizes right, there can be times when diners can’t finish their meal and
it is a shame to see perfectly good food going to waste. “Restaurants incur
costs for the waste they generate so we think this is a great initiative by
Belfast City Council — it’s a win-win situation for food businesses and
customers.” Mr McCarthy said: “We have provided a food waste recycling service
for 70,000 homes in Belfast so we thought we’d turn our attention to eating
out.”
Belfast Telegraph
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