I just read a most unexpected comic strip in a French magazine and had to share it. First, l et me provide some context for my wanting to share it. I love my country of birth, but when it comes to animal exploitation and veganism, France must be by far one of the slowest countries to embrace the movement towards a more plant-based lifestyle! I get that we are creatures of habits and change can be uncomfortable but we need to evolve as a specie. Cave men during the Ice age had no choice but to kill to survive, but we do. I have been visiting my parents in France every year since the late nineteen eighties and I can tell you as a vegan eating out, the selection has pretty much been limited to side dishes, pasta with olive oil or plain tomato sauce, salads… I have seen an improvement over the past 5 years where French restaurants now have one dish that is vegetarian/vegan. They are trying to accomodate the tourists!
Anyway, when I came accross this comic strip in a mainstream magazine, I just about fell of my chair. I added a translation so that anyone can follow the story. If you can’t read it because it is a bit small, it goes something like this:
– Good afternoon
– Hmm! What should I get for dinner?
– Rosalie
– Clotilde
– Gaston
– Maybe, I will have just a little bit of ivy!
Interestingly enough, the cartoon points to the difficulty someone may encounter when purchasing meat if it had a name or a face. That would be a show stopper for most of us. Wouldn’t it? We are so removed from the food that we eat that getting closer to it will definitely shatter our reality. There is a reason why slaughterhouses are never in town and are not made of glass.
So, does this mean that France is moving in a less carnivorous direction? Are women reconsidering food choices for themselves and their families? Is meat starting to lose its stronghold? I hope for a resounding yes on all fronts while knowing that habits are hard to break. But there is one thing for sure, something is in the air in the land of the Freedom fries!
Thank you Marianne Maury Kaufman for your refreshing look at life!
I needed that!