By ELAINE GANLEY
Associated Press Writer
PARIS (AP)
— ``Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are,''
goes the adage penned by famed gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin,
who aptly took the pulse of his countrymen 175 years ago.
Food, with
its symphony of flavors, textures and smells, has long defined
France, where eating is something of a carnal pleasure. But that
last bite of blood-red steak or that final forkful of steak tartare
is going down less easily of late.
The specter
of mad cow disease has darkened the dinner table here, capping
a series of other food-related fears and forcing the French to
revisit their relationship with what they eat.
Suddenly, ``our foods are threatening,'' said Claude Fischler,
an expert on the sociology of food with
France's National
Center for Scientific Research. ``We have the feeling of being
surrounded and trapped. Wherever you turn, there is a risk.''
Experts say
the well-known French passion for good food is not about to disappear,
but the approach to food is evolving. Globalization, a faster-paced
lifestyle in the cities and food fears are forcing the French
to think twice about what goes on their plates.
At France's
open air food markets, the senses are regaled with the season's
cornucopia of fruits, vegetables, meats, spices and feathered
fowl — all displayed like fall fashions at a luxury boutique.
But a hint of fear has crept into the conversations that fill
the stalls.
At a Left
Bank market, the fish monger was found in a heated discussion
with a customer about the perceived dangers of genetically modified
foods. A few stalls down, Simone Leumenier, presiding over an
array of meats, from calves' tail to roast beef, was telling customers
why they should not fear her faux filets. She patiently explained
the difference between bone marrow — considered safe —
and spine marrow forbidden because it risks transmitting the human
form of mad cow disease.
``People don't
know what to think anymore,'' said Leumenier, the fourth generation
of a family of Normandy butchers.
Mad cow, or
bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is believed to be linked to
the brain-wasting human disease variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease,
which is usually fatal. Scientists believe it originated in Britain
when cattle were given feed containing the ground remains of sheep
infected with a brain ailment. That practice is now banned throughout
the European Union.
Fear of the
disease were reawakened this fall in France: More than 100 sick
cows have been detected here this year, and meat from a possibly
infected herd ended up on grocery store shelves. That came on
the heels of a series of food scares, including listeria contamination,
dioxin in chickens and damage to shellfish from an oil-tanker
spill last December.
France has
forbidden a range of cow parts from going to market, from T-bone
steak — cut too close to the spine — to cow's thymus
glands, used in ``ris de veau,'' and brains and intestines, used
to encase large sausages. Most recently, the government banned
use of bone meal and all cow meat-based feeds for all animals.
Leumenier's
beef sales have fallen 30 percent since October. They plunged
48 percent in 1996, when anxiety swept Europe after the extent
of Britain's mad cow problem was disclosed.
A study by
the Center for Research and Documentation, CREDOC, shows that
45 percent of the French people have reduced their intake or stopped
eating beef altogether since October.
``One of the
major findings ... is that the stigma of today will not disappear
in the short term,'' CREDOC said. Three French out of 10 do not
intend to return to their normal beef-eating habits, it said.
``The idea
that we could no longer control the food chain ... triggered a
real psychosis that risks being durable,'' said Jean-Pierre Loisel,
director of CREDOC's consumer department.
Fear of food
among the French sounds like an anomaly. Very young, the French
learn to appreciate their gastronomic traditions.
At some French
schools, children in the lower grades are taken on gastronomic
discovery trips. Each year, a nationwide ``taste week'' promotes
regional foods and inculcates an appreciation of the art of eating.
And in his latest movie, French star Gerard Depardieu portrays
the chef Vatel — who committed suicide in 1602 when two banquet
roasts were not ready on time.
However, changes
in eating habits have been afoot for some time in France. Frozen
foods have gained wide acceptance as women join the work force.
Globalization, and a faster-paced lifestyle, are slowly transforming
traditional long lunches into sandwich breaks, at least in the
city.
Now, there
is growing concern over the health and safety aspects of food.
That was the major finding in a 1998-99 CREDOC study of French
eating habits which showed obesity, heart problems and cholesterol
rank as top fears — not brain damage, food poisoning or other
ailments linked to recent food crises.
Still, experts
say food for the French represents more than just nourishment;
it is intimately bound to social well-being: A recent study by
Fischler with citizens in Nantes showed conviviality to be the
most important aspect of eating.
Fischler and
others predict that the French will continue to cut meat consumption
and demand quality control of what they eat.
``I think
they are dealing with the issues in a typically French way ...,''
said Fischler. ``I'm sure they will devise new ways of enjoying
their food.''
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