This essay examines some recent developments in the food market and in eating habits in France and the anxieties that these developments — blamed by many on the forces of `Americanisation' — appear to be provoking among many French men and women. The specific developments it discusses are (1) the increasing pressure by the American government to force France and the European Union to import genetically modified organisms and hormone-treated beef; (2) the astonishing growth of the fast-food industry in France over the last several years in particular; and (3) the equally astonishing increase over the same period in the obesity rate there, especially among children. This essay argues that the presumed Americanisation of one of the most emphatically and enduringly French aspects of that nation's identity, its cuisine (and perhaps, more importantly, its culinary customs) has proven even more difficult for the French to `swallow' than that of other national domains, such as industry, cinema or even politics. This is so because this particular American `invasion' seems to constitute a penetration not only of national and local borders and public and private spaces, but also, more alarmingly, of individual, biological bodies.
Agence France Presse (2004a) ` La France risque de rejoindre vers 2020 le taux d'obésité américain', 27 April, available at www.lexisnexis.com/academic (accessed 9 August 2007).
2.
Agence France Presse (2004b) ` Obésité: La France menace de rattraper les États-Unis', 26 June, available at www.lexisnexis.com/academic (accessed 9 August 2007).
3.
Agence France Presse (2007) ` L'Europe tente de réagir face aux ravages de la "malbouffe" et de l'obésité ', 28 February, available at www.lexisnexis.com/academic (accessed 31 July 2007).
4.
Auclair, Sylvie, Service Consommateurs, McDonald's France (2006) `Question salade', email to the author, 8 September.
5.
Bellantoni, Christina (2006) `Hill Fries Free to Be French Again', Washington Times, 2 August.
6.
Blanchard, Sandrine (2006) `Obésité: la France sur la voie des États-Unis ', Le Monde, 20 January.
7.
Bourdieu, Pierre (1979) La Distinction: critique sociale du jugement. Paris: Minuit.
8.
Bové, José and Dufour, François (2000) Le Monde n'est pas une marchandise: des paysans contre la malbouffe. Paris: Découverte. Translated by Anna de Casparis ( 2001) as The World Is Not for Sale: Farmers against Junkfood . London: Verso.
9.
Brillat-Savarin, Jean Anthelme (1847) Physiologie du goût. Paris: Charpentier.
10.
Burros, Marian (2002) `McDonald's France Says Slow Down on Fast Food ', New York Times, 30 October, p. 7.
11.
Centre d'études et de ressources pour les professeurs de l'enseignement technique (2003) `Fiche de présentation de l'exploitation pédagogique: Stages année 2003. Entreprise: McDonald's France ', available at: www.cerpet.education.gouv.fr (accessed 22 July 2007).
12.
Clément, Sandrine, Service Consommateur Quick ( 2007) email to the author, 2 August.
13.
Coca-Cola Company (2002) `Selected Market Results: Estimated 2002 Volume by Operating Segment', Annual Report , available at: www.2.coca-cola.com/investors/annualreport/2002 (accessed 3 September 2006).
14.
Coca-Cola Company (2003) `Europe, Eurasia and Middle East Operating Segment', Summary Annual Report, available at www.2.coca-cola.com/investors/annualandotherreports/2003 (accessed 3 September 2006).
15.
Costigliola, Frank (1992) France and the United States: The Cold Alliance since World War II. New York: Twayne .
16.
Cougard, Marie-Joseph (2005) `Les Biscuitiers se défendent de contribuer à l'obésité en France', Les Échos: Le quotidien de l'économie, 10 June.
17.
Daley, Suzanne (1999) `French See a Hero in War on "McDomination"', New York Times, 12 October, pp. A1 and A4.
18.
Dunkin' Donuts (2006) `About Us: Company Information', available at: www.dunkindonuts.com (accessed 11 September 2006).
19.
Les Échos (2005) `Jean-Marie le Guen (PS) dépose une proposition de loi pour endiguer l'obésité', Les Échos: Le quotidien de l'économie, 30 March.
20.
Encyclopedia of Nations (2006) ` France - Agriculture', available at: www.nationsencyclopedia.com (accessed 23 August 2006).
21.
Fantasia, Rick (1995) `Fast Food in France', Theory and Society, 24: 201-43.
22.
Gershman, Jacob (2007) `McDonald's Takes Paris', New York Sun, 2 July.
23.
Greenhouse, Steven (1988) `McDonald's Tries Paris, Again', New York Times, 12 June, p. C1.
24.
Grignon, Claude and Grignon, Christiane (1999) `Long-Term Trends in Food Consumption: A French Portrait', Food and Foodways, 8(3): 151-74.
25.
Guiliano, Mireille (2005) French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure. New York: Knopf. Translated by Mireille Guiliano and Anne Lavédrine (2005) as Ces Françaises qui ne grossissent pas … comment font-elles?Paris: Michel Lafon.
26.
Guiliano, Mireille (2006) French Women For All Seasons. New York: Knopf.
27.
Hagenbaugh, Barbara (1999) `U.S. Farm Chiefs in Heated Food Fight', Reuters, 20 July, available at http://global.factiva.com (accessed 21 January 2008).
28.
Huret, Marie (2004) `Ces ados au cœur gros', L'Express, 26 April.
29.
Kerumbrun, Valérie, Département franchises, McDonald's France (2006) email to the author, 9 August.
30.
Kincheloe, Joe L. (2002) The Sign of the Burger: McDonald's and the Culture of Power. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
31.
Kranes, Marsha (2002) `McDonald's: Food Titan Posts First Quarterly Loss Ever', New York Post, 18 December.
32.
Kuisel, Richard (1993) Seducing the French: The Dilemma of Americanization . Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
33.
Kunz, Edith F. (2000) Fatale: How French Women Do It. Phoenix, AZ: Bridgewood.
34.
Le Guen, Jean-Marie (2005) L'Obésité, le nouveau mal français - pour une réponse politique à un fléau social. Paris: Colin.
35.
Levenstein, Harvey (2004) We'll Always Have Paris: American Tourists in France since 1930. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
36.
McDonald's Corporation (2005) `Denis Hennequin Named President, McDonald's Europe', press release 7 June , available at www.mcdonalds.com/corp (accessed 2 August 2007).
37.
McDonald's Customer Response Center (2006) `Re: A Message from McDonald's U.S.A', email to the author, 21 August.
38.
Mérieux, Alice (2006) `McDonald's salive devant les recettes françaises ', Challenges, 10 May.
39.
Ministère de la Santé, de la Jeunesse et des Sports (Espace Santé) (2001) `La Nutrition', available at: www.sante.gouv.fr/htm/pointsur/nutrition (accessed 19 August 2007).
40.
National Center for Health Statistics (2004 ) `Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Adults: United States, 2003-2004', available at: www.cdc.gov/nchs (accessed 5 August 2007).
41.
Ollivier, Debra (2003) Entre Nous: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl. New York: St Martin's Griffin.
42.
Powell, Helena Frith (2006) All You Need to Be Impossibly French: A Witty Investigation into the Lives, Lusts, and Little Secrets of French Women. New York: Penguin-Plume.
43.
Sciolino, Elaine with Ariane Bernard (2006) `France Battles a Problem that Grows and Grows: Fat', New York Times, 25 January, p. A4.
44.
Streib, Lauren (2007) `World's Fattest Countries', 8 February, available at: www.forbes.com (accessed 22 July 2007).
45.
Tagliabue, John (1999) `McDonald's Gets a Lesson in, Well, the French Fry', New York Times, 11 December, pp. C1-C2.
46.
Tagliabue, John (2006) `A McDonald's Ally in Paris', New York Times, 20 June.
47.
Taylor, Ben (2001) `Food in France: From la nouvelle cuisine to la malbouffe', in John Marks and Edna McCaffrey (eds), French Cultural Debates , pp. 52-63. Newark, NJ: University of Delaware Press .
48.
United Nations, Food and Agricultural Division ( 2004) `Key Statistics of Food and Agricultural Trade', available at: www.fao.org/es/ess/toptrade/trade.asp (accessed 23 August 2006).
Wall, Melissa A. (2005) `"Asterix Repellng the Invader": Globalization and Nationalism in News Coverage of Jose Bove [sic] and the McDonald's Incident ', Popular Communication, 3(2): 97-116.
51.
Warner, Melanie (2006) `Salads or No, Cheap Burgers Revive McDonald's ', New York Times, 19 April.
52.
Wharton, Edith (1920) The Age of Innocence. New York : D. Appleton.
53.
World Health Organization (2006) ` WHO European Ministerial Conference on Counteracting Obesity (15-17 Nov. 2006): Conference Report', available at: www.euro.who.int/document/E90143.pdf (accessed 8 August 2007).
