It's not so long ago that Roland Barthes wrote, in his 1957 Mythologies: "Like wine, steak is, in France, a basic element, nationalized even more than socialized; it figures in all the settings of food life." And yet, while meat – and red meat in particular – may remain "in all the settings," it is no longer a matter of course. Long seen as a guarantor of good health, it now comes under scrutiny when consumed in excess – and is criticized in the name of the fight against climate change.
To achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the French will definitely have to eat less meat, a reduction ranging from 20% to 70% depending on different scenarios. Even the Cour des Comptes – responsible for overseeing French public finances – advised in May that the number of cows in France should be reduced to meet national climate commitments.
While the government is taking up the issue, few politicians dare criticize France's meat consumption, which is twice the global average. They are too afraid of being accused of "pissing off the French," as President Georges Pompidou put it, when it comes to such a symbolically charged food. Certainly, some on the left have taken up the issue. There are the abolitionists, like Aymeric Caron, Ecological Revolution for the Living MP for Paris. Likewise, the Green MP for Paris, Sandrine Rousseau, has also put forward her own arguments.
But the rest of France's political leaders are either treading carefully or, on the contrary, jumping to meat's defense. In May, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire visited a factory producing plant-based sausages and other highly processed substitute products. Nevertheless, it didn't stop him from pledging his love for real meat: "I love eating a good steak and I don't like extremists who say we should stop eating meat altogether." After leading his 2022 presidential campaign around meat, with a visit to a butchery school and defending the place of "good meat" in French cuisine, communist Fabien Roussel placed other symbols of popular authenticity this summer: He filmed himself sitting at a table in his Corsican campsite, preparing a herring salad.
Like the car, meat is now at the heart of a cultural conflict that is all the more sensitive because it affects lifestyles. "Regarding meat, I am leading a cultural battle," said Rousseau. "It's the easiest and most effective individual gesture you can make to reduce your carbon footprint. Whether you live in a rural or urban area, in a single-parent family or not, everyone can do it." Despite health and scientific arguments, there is continued resistance. "We can't pretend that the fight against global warming is consensual, as some people claim, but at least I'm managing to bring this resistance to light," she continued.
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