France: Dining with the Doom Generation

Abstract

French cooking is going down the drain. In fact, it9s been going that way since the 1960s9, when women abandoned the kitchen to take up jobs. But there9s more to the problem than a mere lack of time: our whole food culture seems to be floundering. Confused by GMOs, disgusted by mad cow attacks and fatally attracted to junk food, French consumers have lost control over their shopping carts and diets, and lost interest in cooking. As a result, the social function of food is disappearing: today, dining with your friends can be a daunting experience. Oddly, this does not prevent most French from seeing their cooking as "still the best in the world", and dismissing the others; this is precisely one of the reasons of its downfall. Today, as British and American chefs take over traditional French cooking, it9s definitely time for another French food revolution.