'Le doggy bag’ comes to France

Aimed at cutting back on food waste, the initiative was launched at the beginning of the year. Picture: AFP

Aimed at cutting back on food waste, the initiative was launched at the beginning of the year. Picture: AFP

Published Feb 5, 2016

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Washington - Many highbrow French foodies perceive doggy bags as American and, synonymously, uncouth.

But “Un doggy bag, s’il-vous plait” may become a more common request if environmentalists have their way.

A new law in France requires large restaurants to provide takeaway containers, or “les doggy bags”, to any customer who asks for one.

Aimed at cutting back on food waste, the initiative was launched at the beginning of the year and applies to establishments which cater for at least 150 diners a day, reports France24.

More than 100 restaurants in Paris are already in compliance with the new regulation, but shifting behaviours is another thing entirely.

But are doggy bags American? Here’s a brief history.

Roman roots

Today’s doggy bags are the descendant of a tradition among Roman nobility that was, surprisingly, a sign of courtesy.

In the 6th century BC, banquet guests wrapped their leftovers in napkins and took them home, etiquette expert Dorothea Johnson wrote in her book Tea & Etiquette: Taking Tea for Business and Pleasure. It was considered rude to do otherwise, a suggestion that the food was not good.

The practice stagnated until the scarcity of the World War II years, when the modern doggy bag was born.

Literal bags for dogs

In the 1940s, pet owners in the US were encouraged to minimise waste by feeding their dogs table scraps.

San Francisco eateries were the first to start offering leftover food packets for patrons to take home to pets. The practice soon spread around the country.

But as people realised that Fido didn’t need foie gras, more and more of them started asking for takeaway containers for themselves.

By the 1980s, the US had firmly latched on to the idea of doggy bags.

People around the world warmed to the idea, too.

But France has been a holdout, until the government gave them a gentle push. Only time will tell if French connoisseurs will adopt the practice.

Washington Post

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