Pork or nothing: how school dinners are dividing France

[MADem]

164. You probably don't understand that this concept was operative during the French colonial years.

Asssimilation was prized, the nail that stuck up got hammered down. The colonials who did best under French rule were those who adapted to the French way of life. The children in colonial schools spoke French, were taught in French, learned French history, culture, read French literature, and were educated in an entirely French fashion. The French way of life is all about history, literature, style, food, wine, a certain pace of life, and certain customs and courtesies that matter to the society at large. It's not about skin color--there are French people who came from Morocco, Chad or Algeria around the time those countries achieved independence who opted to stay French, and who are as French as Charles DeGaulle in their attitudes and lifestyles.

Now, you can scream at me all day, and "blame" me for telling you this, but this is the way it is. And thus far, European courts are ruling FOR national traditions and cultures.

No one WOULD tell you to eat weisswurst every day in Germany. If they served food you didn't like in school, you could bring a sack lunch.

No one is telling these kids (or the Jewish kids) to eat the pork (or telling the Hindu kids to eat the beef) either. What they are saying is that they're going back to doing things in the traditional French way, and if you don't like it, plan ahead or fill up on sides. The French take great pride in their classic cuisine and wines...all you have to do is look at how they treated Julia Child when she tried to break into the club to see how protective they are of their standards in this area.

Americans are very spoiled in that they are used to having choices--and in some cases, too many choices. Like Senator Sanders said, how many different deodorants do people need? When I went to school (in America) they mimeographed a menu and sent it home with the children, and in some cases it would be printed in the local newspaper. There were no "options" on the menu. It was the salisbury steak with watery mashed potato and carrots, or nothing. Or the turkey and stuffing with succotash. Oh, boy-pudding for dessert! Chocolate, too! Life was perfect. When I went to school abroad, you ate what they gave you, even if it was tripe soup and bread and chocolate, or you waited until you got home. There was no "choice" and it was all in together.

Nobody died. Nobody starved, either.

I do think, as someone else pointed out, that there is a tendency for people who pretend to be liberal to bend over backwards to fuss and be "tolerant" of exotic faiths, when if some Kim Davis fundy Christian church demanded special accommodations (We need a room to pray in! We need special foods as a function of our faith!) they'd be told to pound sand and that old "separation of church and state" canard (which is a weak reality here in USA) would be applied. In France, though, it is not a weak reality--it's a bulletproof, bomb-proof wall.

I am a person who is at home in mosque, temple and most churches--I can blend in perfectly and know enough of the prayers and customs to "pass" in most major faiths--but I am a fervent advocate of the church-state separation along the lines of the French model. I am not stupid, and I do realize that the far right is doing this to "make a point," but as I have said, this attitude has currency even among the French lefties--they are proud of their culture and traditions, and they welcome people, but their attitude is "You want to join our club? You play by OUR rules."

I am also a person who thinks that cultures, customs and traditions do matter--they define a national identity. It would be the opposite of lovely if Rome became indistinguishable from London, if Paris was no different from Madrid.

In America, we have less understanding or appreciation of this because we steal unabashedly from every culture, and our "culture" is "We Want it ALL" -- but living in a homogenous society brings a different perspective.