The doggy bag is conquering the Netherlands. Slowly but surely, restaurants are realizing that unnecessary food waste can be stopped. The doggy bag is on the rise:if you can no longer eat your food in the restaurant, it will no longer be thrown away, but you can take the food home with you.
Don't worry:although it is a doggy bag (literally:dog bag), it is not necessarily intended for a dog. The doggybas is a bag in which you can take the remains of a leftover meal from a restaurant. What you do with the food you bring is up to you:give it to the dog or eat it yourself the next day. In this way, much less food is wasted.
Until now, the Dutch Commodities Act applies, whereby restaurants are obliged to throw away leftover food. Even if this means that perhaps a whole portion is sent back to the kitchen almost untouched. Of course, this is based on hygiene and general food safety.
In 2014, the Tas Toe organization was founded on the basis of the idea that a stop must be made to the 51 tons of food that is thrown away every year in the catering industry alone in the Netherlands. Based on the philosophy of 'Improve the world', a start has been made to encourage restaurants to sign a letter of intent. In this, restaurants give their customers the opportunity to take leftover food home in a so-called doggy bag.
It seems that the organization no longer exists, but that does not alter the fact that a start was once made with combating food waste. Perhaps it is time for the government to respond to this and change the Dutch Commodities Act.
The doggy bag or taking leftovers after a meal in a restaurant is nothing new. In America, Sweden and also in Suriname it is the most normal thing in the world that you get leftover food to take home in a restaurant.
I don't know how it is in the US and Sweden, but in Suriname the waiters usually ask if you want a bowl in which the food is given. In some cases you will receive a styrofoam container with a lid in which you put the food. In other cases, your food will be neatly put in the bin by the kitchen staff. The tray is then neatly placed in a plastic bag, so that you can safely take the food home.
Shame! The Dutch are ashamed to take the leftovers of their meal home with them. That is the main reason that the doggy bag is not yet known or widely used here. As if you should be ashamed of something…
You have worked for it, paid for it and if you cannot eat the food because the portion is too large or you are suddenly full, then it should be the most normal thing in the world that you can take the food home without any problems take.
What you do with the leftovers is ultimately your own choice. Do you give the food to your dog (not always advisable because of the herbs used, etc.) or do you enjoy a restaurant meal within your own four walls the next day.
What do you think of the doggy bag to take leftover food with you? Would you dare to ask for a doggy bag in a restaurant?
