French bakers urge the French to eat more bread
| Paris
The New York Times has on the French penchant for bread 鈥� or rather the country鈥檚 declining penchant.聽
鈥淭he average Frenchman these days eats only half a baguette a day compared with almost a whole baguette in 1970 and more than three in 1900,鈥� the paper reports.
What? I would never guess that from the line at the bakery right down the street, which is always long, and often out the door.
But the story does go a long way to clear up some mysteries that I鈥檝e been encountering on an anecdotal basis here.
In my adult life, eating white bread has been naughty. It鈥檚 wheat or nothing, with slices of baguette something just reserved for a special dinner out.聽So it was with a degree of glee that I moved here and saw virtually everyone munching off the tips of baguettes while walking down the street. If they can do it, so can we!
And that we did. One of the first things that made us laugh when we moved to France was walking into the kitchen in our temporary apartment and finding that our two-year-old had grabbed a baguette from the table and proceeded to chow down.
Except, it鈥檚 now been four months and, unfortunately, a few extra kilos.
I always think of the book 鈥淔rench Women Don鈥檛 Get Fat,鈥� which purports that, , women can eat what they want here because they are slowing down and thoroughly enjoying it.
But I鈥檝e come to learn that they also eat minuscule proportions. When you eat French food 鈥� croissants, buttery sauces, chocolate tarts, and yes, baguettes 鈥� like an American, you are in trouble.
It just so happens that we woke up to this revelation this very week and banned baguettes 鈥� as well as the sweets from the bakery 鈥� from our house. It鈥檚 going to be a two-week trial, with the goal of incorporating it back into our lives at much smaller volumes (i.e., we do not need to be eating two baguettes a day between three, one of whom is a toddler).
It鈥檚 decisions as such that are apparently worrying the聽, the baker鈥檚 lobby, which the Times reports recently launched a campaign to draw the French back to bread, as a cheap and healthy option 鈥� and part of simply being French.聽
鈥淐oucou, tu as pris le pain?鈥� (鈥淗i there, have you picked up the bread?鈥�) is the campaign鈥檚 slogan. Modeled on the American advertising campaign 鈥淕ot Milk?鈥� the bread slogan was plastered on billboards and inscribed on bread bags in 130 cities around the country.聽聽鈥�
The campaign鈥檚 Web site,聽, explains that 鈥淔rance is a 鈥榗ivilization of bread鈥� and this food is part of the traditional meal 鈥樏� la fran莽aise.' 鈥�
Bread is described as healthy and useful in avoiding weight gain. 鈥淚t is rich in vegetal protein and fiber and low in fat; glucides are a source of energy,鈥� the Web site says, using the French word for carbohydrate.
If people on diets want 鈥渢o avoid giving in to something with fat and sugar, bread is there,鈥� it says. 鈥淚ts satiating effect allows you to wait for the next meal.鈥�
The campaign reads a bit like desperation, but I don鈥檛 think the bread and pastry makers of France need to worry just yet. France, the Times reports, still enjoys the world鈥檚 highest density of independent bakeries. And even if the number, 32,000, is down from 54,000 in 1950, there are still too many bakeries for one bread-loving family to easily resist.聽
