29 minutes ago, Mjx said:Perhaps restaurants and catering firms could begin building in the option of taking home leftovers by marketing it as a part of their sustainable/environmentally responsible stance; they could even make a profit on it, if it was carefully thought out ('Our portions/spread are/is generous, bring containers to prevent food waste, or we sell elegant, reusable containers for this purpose!'). It may sound cynical, but if the end result is reduced waste and an increased awareness of this problem, it'd be worth it. Besides, I know plenty of people would like to ask to take away leftovers, but feel too embarrassed to do this (I do). This would just mean making people feel a bit smug about it.
I will say when I worked at an establishment that had two restaurants and two ballrooms for banquets, that every night whatever couldn’t be easily repurposed was donated to the local soup kitchens. This was 20 years ago.
There is a law in NJ absolving restaurants, caterers, etc from being liable for food borne illnesses once the donations were tested to be at the correct temperature before leaving the donor establishment.
I worked for a very well known family of restaurants and banquet halls after the first one and they always refused to donate. It’s always bothered me.
