The French culture remains as one of the cultures across the globe with a rich history especially in regard to its foods or rather cuisine. As a result, for many decades, the French food has featured in many different places such as hotels and restaurants across the world. This has been supported by the fact that the French love their cultural food and whenever they go they have always carried with them or rather promoted their culture foods. In spite of the fact that the French foods have deep roots among the French people, recent observations prove otherwise. The introduction of genetically engineered food has had some effects on the French food culture.
The French people have always considered their cultural foods or rather meals as a way of showing patriotism to their own culture and to their nation. In reference to Lusk, Roosen & Fox (2001), the research that was carried in some parts of Europe showed that the French people preferred beef that had not been administered with growth hormones as compared to people from Great Britain, Germany and the United States (p.16-21). In this regard, the native French preferred foods that were natural rather than depending on genetically modified foods. In line with this, whereas the younger generations in France have been facing challenges in the recent times, the policies that have been put in place in regard to genetically modified foods reveal a strong resistance to these types of foods by the French community.
Following this point, there are various actions that have been taken by the French people to show how much they value their own cultural foods and abhor genetically modified foods. According to Meunier (2000), one of the most celebrated persons in France in 1999 was a French farmer Jose Bove, whose passion for French food stirred a desire in him to bring down a McDonald’s restaurant, an American fast food restaurant and succeeded in protest against the US sanctions (p.104-109). The arguments by this farmer lie in the fact that whereas France is a civilized nation, it does not need to follow the path followed by the United States in its globalization endeavors. His arguments are resonated by the French leadership which has chosen to work on controlling what comes from outside its borders in order to protect its people. In this regard, genetically modified food is perceived as a foreign entry that needs to be resisted rather than a boost to French economy in terms of food production.
Following these arguments, there has been resistance whether knowingly or unknowingly by the French community to genetically modified food. This has further been aggravated by the fact that the French medical field and research have argued that genetically modified foods have drastic effects on human health. It is argued that the acceptance of genetically modified foods depended heavily on the psychosocial perception and values that were attached on these foods. Therefore, the French communities, who have valued and preserved their culture and cultural foods, have strongly resisted the introduction of genetically modified foods within their systems (Finucane, 2002, p.31-34).
In summation, it can be argued that the French culture has been inclined more towards preserving what they already have rather than adopting new types of cultures especially in regard to their diet. As a result of this, the French culture has strongly resisted the introduction of genetically modified foods into their communities and instead chosen to retain their traditional meals. It is also important to note that this resistance has not been propagated by the government alone with its dirigiste political and economic traditions but with the French people as a whole. However, one cannot fail to say that in spite of this resistance, there is a high risk that the younger generations would be overcome by the fast food culture as compared to the older generations who are stooped to preserving their food culture.
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