Irish Eyes Doggie Bags (UPDATED)

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no soup for you!

Fresh from initiating a thought crime force to prosecute those who insult or hurt the feelings of a member of any one of nine specified protected classes, the goons are now looking to limit food portions served to the peasants.

Agricultural minister wants to limit size of restaurant meals, ban doggie bags, and oh, by the way, stop complaining about unsightly produce: “shut up, and eat your vegetables”.

Diners need less food on plates to cut waste, says minister

Restaurants and food outlets need to cut down on the amount of food they put on consumers’ plates to reduce waste, the Agriculture Minister has said.

Charlie McConalogue said there was a lot of waste within food service and urged every business to look to address the issue further.

Latest data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) show Ireland generated about 770,316 tonnes of food waste in 2020.

About 31% of the total comes from households, 29% comes from the processing and manufacturing sector, with the remainder coming from restaurants and food service (23%), primary production (9%), and retail and other distribution of food (8%). 

A superior is displeased with the behavior of the people he rules:

Mr McConalogue said: “There's an imperative on us to actually address this. It's something that really grates with me and really annoys me, because, you know, I've seen it at all different levels.

Anytime I go to a food outlet, I’m tired of saying ‘that’s enough, I don’t need anymore food [on my plate]'.

“It's much better not to overload somebody's plate but allow somebody to come back for seconds and there’ll be a lot less putting [food] into the bin as a result of that approach,” he said.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner, the Donegal TD said he believed it was less of a problem if people were not given enough food at a restaurant and said people can “always ask for seconds” and pay for it.

Call for doggy bag ban

He also said customers should not be in a position whereby they request a box or bag to take home food from a restaurant.

“I think we need to be avoiding the situation when people have to be reaching for a doggy bag because you’re dealing with the problem rather than the cause so it shouldn’t be the case that plates are overloaded, that’s what I believe where we need to try and reach behavioural change.

“Especially from a purely consumption point of view and from a balanced diet point of view,” he added.

The Government has committed to reducing food waste by 50% by 2030 — in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The agriculture minister said consumers also need to accept a practice change that will facilitate food waste being reduced.

“The work and effort that goes into producing food and also you know at a farming level and the cost in [food production] involved.

“And also then the energy and that resource that goes into it and for almost a third of that to end up in a bin isn't acceptable, and there's waste right throughout the chain.

And while he’s plaining Stern Momma, this:

Mr McConalogue added households have a responsibility to value food and it should not matter if vegetables do not look perfect. 

Update: h/t, reader Fireworks:

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