The scene is not unusual these days at open-air markets in France. “Oh, are they Spanish? Well, give me those French tomatoes,” said a customer at a fruit and vegetable stall at the weekly market in Garches, a suburb on the western outskirts of Paris. Perhaps the buyer had heard Ségolène Royal, the former socialist presidential candidate, rant against Spanish tomatoes. But her attitude probably obeyed a well-established trend, that of patriotic consumption, especially of food, which has been reinforced after the last major protest by farmers and ranchers.
Few countries have such a strong national self-esteem as France. It doesn't matter that they feel fed up with their politicians and that many consider that their country shows signs of decadence. But, alas, when it comes to defending native raw materials, especially those that come from their fields and farms, national pride is exacerbated. French is perceived as automatically better, tastier and more natural than imported, be it milk, cheese, chicken meat, scallops or apples.
“Milk collected and conditioned in France,” is stated, within a hexagon representing the country, on the tetrabrik packaging of milk sold by a popular German-owned chain. When the distributor is foreign, it is even more important to highlight the French origin of the food. The packaging even includes a large photo of a cow farmer, Anne-Lyse, from the Centre-Loire Valley region and this slogan: “Fairer remuneration for farmers”. This product design long predates the recent countryside uprising.
Campaigns in favor of French products have been ongoing for many years. Sometimes they take the form of investigative journalism. Public networks, such as TV5, frequently carry out extensive reports on food quality. They send special envoys to visit the avocado crops of Mexico, the walnuts of California, the broccoli fields of Murcia or the honeycombs of Monegros. They then hire laboratories that analyze the products. The final message is always negative for what is imported, either because of excessive pesticides, because water is injected (for example in English scallops, to gain weight) or because it is adulterated with substances that have nothing to do with the original material.
“Are you sure you buy French?” was asked last Tuesday on the front page of Le Parisien / Aujourd’hui en France, one of the most widely read newspapers, which has a version for the capital and another for the rest of the country. The newspaper recalled that despite the profusion of tricolor flags, hexagons and hearts with the national flag on packaging and supermarket panels, there is a lot of fraud.
In the midst of the farmers' revolt, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, announced massive controls to verify that when a product is sold as French it is true. Violators risk very severe fines, up to 10% of the company's turnover.
The crusade for French foods never stops. The next event, at the end of the month, will be the Paris Agricultural Show, a fair that has always been an unavoidable commitment for politicians of all stripes, including the President of the Republic. In recent editions, Emmanuel Macron has spent up to 12 hours or more speaking to exhibitors and the public. This marathon will be a new opportunity to ardently defend French food against that of the rest of the world.
