THE TIMES: It is a source of ancestral pride, a cornerstone of the national identity and a treasure so highly prized that President Sarkozy wants Unesco to place it on a World Heritage list.
But Gallic gastronomy is facing a threat that could remove all of the fun from mealtimes in France, according to the French National Food Council, which advises the Government on food policy.
The threat comes not from Anglo-Saxon fast-food outlets or industrial farms elsewhere in Europe. Instead, says a report published by the council last week, it comes from France’s own bureaucrats, who are bombarding their compatriots with messages designed to counter obesity, high cholesterol, heart disease and other ailments purportedly linked to eating habits.
There is little evidence to suggest that the campaigns are making France healthier. But they are producing the almost unthinkable consequence of putting French diners off their food, the council says.
“They are turning eating into a stressful experience and there is a risk that they will end the pleasure and conviviality that has always been an essential component of French gastronomy,” Alain Blogowski, interministerial secretary at the Food Council, told The Times.
He said that the French were becoming more concerned with fatty acids than with the flavour of their blanquette de veau or their tarte tatin. “We’ve got to get away from the idea that if you eat, you’re likely to fall ill.” Read on and comment >>> Adam Sage, Paris | Monday, June 21, 2010
