France is to swallow its gastronomic pride and finally embrace "le doggy bag" amid plans to cut food wastage that sees a third of the world's edible produce binned every year, reports The Telegraph.
A report handed in to the French government this week warned that wasted food costs the average French household 400 euros (£285) a year and the country up to 20 billion euros (£14 billion).
The problem was a "sign of a system of [food production] and consumption in crisis," said Guillaume Garot, the socialist MP who drew up the report.
Among his 36 proposals, Mr Garot suggests promoting "le doggy bag" – until recently an unthinkable practice in French restaurants.
To many French, parting with the remains of your meal in a bag is associated with the view that "Anglo-Saxon" eateries favour quantity over quality. In France, the traditional message to diners concerning their meal has been "love it or leave it".
Admitting that France faces a "cultural obstacle" concerning the doggy bag, Mr Garot said "most customers don't dare ask for the remains of their meal, and restaurateurs can see it as 'degrading' their dishes".
However, wastage has reached such levels that "it must be used as a springboard" to change the "almost automatic" habit of restaurants throwing away leftovers.
TakeAway, a French start-up that sells microwaveable doggy bags, said that unlike in Britain, the US or more recently Belgium and Italy, "it is not easy to introduce in France, where its use is considered a bit embarrassing".
The company's CEO said most of the problems were born of a misunderstanding. "For the consumer, as it is not on offer in the restaurant, he doesn't think to or doesn't dare ask for it. The restaurant owner, meanwhile, thinks that as the customer isn't asking for one, he won't offer one."
It appears, however, that mentalities are changing. A recent poll conducted by a regional food and farming state body in southeastern France found that 75 per cent of French diners would be prepared to use a doggy bag.