Final Human Diet Post

Throughout my blog posts I have been analyzing and observing food here in France as well as the food in the other countries I have visited. This past month I really surpassed my food taboos. I have officially tried oysters and escargot (what did the snail say at the NASCAR race? Look at that S car go! You’re welcome). In addition to that I have tried rabbit, duck, foie gras, pâté, lots of veggies I never would’ve tried and more since being abroad. As I always have, lets start with some photos since the last post.

 

TidBit about Escargot: The cooking process is describe in The Food of France. It takes roughly 4 hours to complete the entire cooking process. The snails are removed from their shells, cooked (along with other steps) and the placed back into their boiled shells and placed into a plate or pan with indentions for each snail along with cream and chives/seasoning and the very well known burgundy butter (Root 190).

 

During our overnight excursion to Normandy and Mont Saint Michel we ate a restaurant next door to our hotel. From the outside alone, this place looked like your typical next-to-a-hotel kind of restaurant we would have back in America (you know, like your Applebees or Crackle Barrel and what not). Not to my surprise, it was totally Americanized. From the moment I sat down, saw the menu and spoke to the waitress I could tell. The waitress was still French but her work uniform was very similar to what someone in America would be wearing. For the first time in probably 3 1/2 months (the entire time I’ve been here) I could see what I was ordering. WHAT? Yes. It was one of those moments that you don’t realize is happening until a few seconds after it happens. Due to the fact that it is so normal to have photos in the U.S. I didn’t really notice. But because of my blog and my observations of food and advertisements I did after a few minutes passed. I pointed it out to the table and everyone freaked!

 

Another semi-american thing I have observed recently are the advertisements on the bus stops throughout Angers. As I have mentioned in my previous blogs there aren’t many billboards and advertisements with food here in Angers. However,  I have noticed there are a few companies involved like McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Dominos and sometimes even Subway. McDonald’s seems to have more advertisements than any of them displayed throughout the city. Below is a photo of a Dominos ad.

 

If you look closely, below the advertisement for pizza, is small print in black and white that says, “pour votre santé, s’il vous plaît manger des fruits et des légumes au moins une fois par jour” or “for your health, please eat fruits and vegetables at least once a day.” I have noticed this sentence on ALL of the bus stops ads I have seen. This sends a message loud and clear. Even though it is really small, if you are an observant person, you would have seen it on all the stops.  If one person sees that over and over again they will eventually start thinking about it enough to the point where they might actually go for an apple or some veggies.

This is a concept that America has yet to pick up on. You see these little tidbits everywhere in France. I also noticed this same kind of suggestion on my chocolate cereal box (yes chocolate… I know… bad). Each little tidbit has a different suggestion but they all basically state that the consumer should have fruits and vegetables along with the meal or product being advertised. This is due to the French laws regarding TV commercials (mentioned in previous posts) that target children and advertise junk food…

Something I came across while doing some more research on French diet is an article that shows a specific sign that is hung in some restaurants across France. Basically, there was a poll done in France which discovered “85% of restaurants [in France] secretly make use of frozen or vacuum-packed food.” In July of 2014 a law was created and put into place that restaurants will now have to display a logo saying their food is “fait maison” (homemade). If the logo is missing, the food is not homemade.

This was shocking to me. The French are the “food snobs” of the world and this is happening in their own country!? WOW. To me this says a few things:

1. At least their on top of it and have passed a law to let consumers know what they’re getting into

2. If there are so many food restrictions and laws why can’t they pass a law that disables restaurants from using frozen or pre made food period

3. ^ #2 seems a little crazy and I’m really not sure how I feel about preventing restaurants from using it. In a way I see the restaurants side. As long as they are making it known to the consumer that some meals aren’t homemade, they can cook how they’d like (I suppose).

Another shocking piece of information I came across during research was this:

I have mentioned in some of my previous posts that I rarely see the French photographing their food. Also, the popular app YELP is not really a thing here unlike back home in the U.S.. Obviously the only people using it here are people like me who have it in their home countries. (Side note TripAdvisor seems to be more popular here than yelp). According to The Daily Mail in the UK, some French Chefs have banned photography in their restaurants. A community of chefs reported that photos not only gives away the surprise for future diners but it also gives their competition insight on their creativity. One chef, Alexandre Gauthier said, “diners often appeared more interested in photographing their food than eating it.”

I think this is ridiculous. With social media taking the world by storm, people are basically choosing every meal by the photos on their phones and nifty little apps (like yelp and trip advisor). What better way to decide where to eat and spend your well earned money than by the opinions of other foodies? Of course you can trust the opinion of a foodie! Or even knowing that someone took the time to take a photo and write a well thought out review about their experience. I am a photographer so I know how it feels to have your creativity “stolen.” However, if a costumer photographs your food and reviews it they are technically giving the chef the well deserved credit for their creativity. Taking a photo of the food is becoming part of the dining experience. Tasting and enjoying is just part of it… presentation has a big role as well. If your food is so nicely presented wouldn’t you WANT people to see it and come to your restaurant? I mean thats just more business and attention. As a girl who literally defines herself as “foodie” and “photographer” eating at a restaurant that is so good and needs to be documented but forbids it would break my hungry little heart.

 

On a recent excursion, we took a tour of the Cointreau liqueur factory (the one and only in the entire world). Before touring the factory and tasting the oh so popular beverage I had an idea of what the tour would consist of. Some history, fun facts and a tasting. Little did I know I would be walking down a hallway full of old advertisements from throughout the history of the company. Photos weren’t allowed but luckily, the story is up on their website along with some of the famous advertisements.

The advertisements began as a way to make women, Parisians to be specific, attracted to Cointreau. It was known that men typically liked slightly more bitter drinks than women. Women liked the sweet, candy-like taste of the orange liqueur and that’s when it all started. Advertisements with women and cointreau started becoming a staple for the company. Below are some examples.

 

As you can tell, there is a very specific theme within these advertisements. Cointreau made the ads portray women who drank it as “sexier” than those who don’t. This was their marketing strategy to reel in more female consumers… Literally one of their slogans is “be Cointreauversial.” The image of the ideal French or Parisian woman has been around for quite sometime. Even today, the concept of the perfect French woman is common in fashion and many other things. During the tour, someone in the group made a comment about why they use women to get the attention of other women when usually it’s the sex appeal of the opposite gender that does the trick. Well my thought process is they use this image of the perfect woman because it “inspires” other women to want to be like her. If drinking Cointreau makes you the perfect French woman why wouldn’t you want to drink it? After the whole women as advertisements phase (not completely after because they are still a thing), came the new and probably more well known face of Cointreau.

 

 

The image of this almost cartoon looking man was decided upon by Edouard Cointreau himself. The man in the image is Pierrot and the glasses is a refreence to Edouard Cointreau’s eyeglasses. This image is used on TONS of the Cointreau products. The original image has also been morphed into many abstract paintings and photos that mimic the idea of Pierrot and the glasses. It’s really crazy if you think about it… some companies have been so successful in creating this advertisement to market their product that the advertisement occasionally becomes more popular than the actual product. I mean yes, the product won’t sell with or without the advertisement unless it is a decent product. But think about all the times we have purchased something just because of the brand or the advertisement. The advertising industry, no matter how occasionally unethical they are, is pure genius. They have managed to create things that get our (the consumer) attention without us even realizing it. That will make me think twice about buying products from here on out that’s for sure…

I have learned quite a bit about advertisements while in France. Not just about French advertisements but a lot about U.S. advertisements. Being here has allowed me to see my home country in a different light and see the similarities and differences. I see plenty of advertisements about clothes and perfume (which seems to be an insanely huge market here in France) but not many food advertisements as I have said many times. I haven’t seen photos in menus either (despite the one menu listed at the beginning of this post). I do feel like I have a better understanding of the food advertising industry here. I have come to the conclusion that the lack of food advertising is somewhat beneficial. Not having access to the amount of advertising like we have back in the U.S. clearly has not had a poor effect on the food produced here. If anything it has helped the quality. France is still one of the worlds leading cuisine creators. The lack of junk food not only helps the quality of food produced but it also plays part in the lack of obesity within France, unlike the United States which is one of the leading countries when it comes to childhood obesity. Companies have a strategy known as “from cradle to grave” aka they get your child hooked on their product from as young as possible and keep them hooked for their entire lives. This is happening with junk food advertising and more and more children are being diagnosed with childhood obesity. More people will die from obesity than those who die from starvation in a single year (Fed Up).

According to an article from PBS, “France has been taxing soft drinks [for the past year]”and “Hungary introduced a tax on selected manufactured foods high in sugar, salt or caffeine.” This is good and bad though. In Denmark, there was a tax on foods with saturated fats but was then repealed because of complaints that it was hurting small businesses. There has to be a way to make a dent in the obesity epidemics around the world without hurting businesses. So far, I agree with France and the restrictions on advertisements the most. The goal is that “regulations limit advertisements that promote unhealthy diets to children” (cspinet.org). France has even gone as far as to fine companies if they don’t use health messages within food advertisements (Mercer). This can explain the little line of healthy tips under the bus stop ads. Another action taken by France has been the demand that “all junk-food ads in France must devote 7% of space to health messages about… exercise and eating fruits and vegetables.” If the United States would just get on board with this movement against obesity stats like “Fast-food restaurant meals were the most frequently advertised food products in the United States (32% of food advertisements)” would hopefully stop occurring. One suggestion could be, instead of using social media to display unhealthy foods and bad eating habits, companies could use it as a platform to spread the word and importance about eating healthy or at least about eating with moderation in mind. I personally don’t want to only see green veggies and fruits up and down my social media timelines but I do think it would be a good idea for leading food producers and the industry as a whole to show viewers what to eat, how to eat it and how it can be done in a fun/affordable way. Another issue is price. Middle income families cannot always afford to eat healthy. Unfortunately, healthy food items tend to be more pricey than the food items that aren’t healthy. If the government and the companies could come to an agreement that not only benefited the consumers but even the companies who produce unhealthy food, we could all be living in a healthier and more agreeable environment. Obviously, it wouldn’t be fair to just tell the companies not to produce a food anymore when it clearly is keeping them in business, however it’s not fair to the people’s health either. We need to worry about the children and the future of humanity as well as worrying about profits in businesses.  Businesses cannot make profit at the consumer’s health’s expense.

 

 

Sources:

Eccles, Louise. “Stop Taking Food Snaps, Plead Chefs: French Restaurant Bans Cameras after Head Cook Complained about Diners Taking Pictures of Their Meals.” The Daily Mail UK. N.p., 17 Feb. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.

Fed Up. Dir. Stephanie Soechtig. Perf. Katie Couric, Bill Clinton, Michele Simon. 2014. Netflix.

“Food Marketing in Other Countires.” Evaluation of Agricultural Policy Reforms in the United States (2011): 119-23. Cspinet. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.

Hall, Emma. “In Europe, The Clash Over Junk-Food Ads Heats Up.” Advertising Age 78.10 (2007): 32. Small Business Reference Center. Web. 9 Nov. 2015.

Kelly, Bridget, Jason C.G. Halford, Emma J. Boyland, Kathy Chapman, Inmaculada Bautista-Castaño, Christina Berg, Margherita Caroli, Brian Cook, Janine G. Coutinho, Tobias Effertz, Evangelia Grammatikaki, Kathleen Keller, Raymond Leung, Yannis Manios, Renata Monteiro, Claire Pedley, Hillevi Prell, Kim Raine, Elisabetta Recine, Lluis Serra-Majem, Sonia Singh, and Carolyn Summerbell. “Television Food Advertising to Children: A Global Perspective.” American Journal of Public Health. American Public Health Association, n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.

Mercer, Chris. “France Tightens Food and Drink Advert Rules.” Beverage Daily. N.p., 1 Mar. 2007. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.

Root, Waverly. The Food of France . New York : Vintage Books , 1992 .

Sassi, Franco. “How U.S. Obesity Compares With Other Countries.” PBS.org. N.p., 11 Apr. 2013. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.

Sorrel-Dejerine, Olivia. “The New Sign on French Menus.” BBC.com. N.p., 16 July 2014. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.

us.cointreau.com