Assignment: In Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong, read the chapters assigned below. Write a response, following the Reader Response Instructions (see previous post). React to and comment upon at least 2 of your classmates responses.
Chapter
2: How has geography contributed to the French national character?
Once again the authors thought they had a grasp on anti-globalization, but they soon realized that it was national pride not globalization. The French do not mind joining the rest of the world, but as we saw with the farmer’s riot on the McDonalds, they are not going to join the world at a price. If I imported goods into another country and that country put a tax increase on my good, I would be mad too! Those farmers had every right to protest, and I find it highly amusing what they did to the McDonalds. Other than to make the reader very thirsty and hungry, the main purpose of this chapter was to show how closely the French are tied to the land. France is truly like no other country. The French people love their country and they have stayed there, which is why there has not been a great influx of French immigrants into the United States. Also the French are very proud of their pays, which is a region that has its own culture. I find the idea that the French want their country to remain the way it is very plausible. The authors clearly gave evidence to support why the French love their country. I find it intriguing that some people will keep family homes in several different regions just to remain close to their origins. In America, we have our “American Pride”, and we all come together to celebrate on major holidays or when there has been a tragedy. In all of my time as an American I have never seen anything like what this chapter described. The authors said that everyone in France typically knows the specialties of the regions. If you ask a random person in the United States where they are from, you will probably not be able to identify much with that person other than where the state is only because we were forced to learn the states and their capitals.
RépondreSupprimerI also found what the farmers did to the McDonalds to be extremely amusing. I love the fact that protests and demonstrations are so common there. I also love how passionate they are about their pays. I had no idea there were so many diverse regions in a country roughly the size of Texas.
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SupprimerIt is interesting to compare the differences between the US and France. i feel as if America has a lot of pride for being americans but not necessarily of where they came from. My ancestors on my mothers side come in on the mayflower but besides thanksgiving and christmas we don't really practice any of their customs. The french have kept their customs and traditions going for many generations.
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RépondreSupprimerI had no idea there were so many different geographical features in France, especially not active volcanos and rain forests. I also found the description of the Salon de l'Agriculture very interesting. It's difficult to imagine something like that existing in the United States.
SupprimerI love the idea that France has such a unique geography! For such a small country to have so many different climates is truly a phenomenon. This uniqueness is just another reason why France is a gift to the rest of the world. I think a back-packing trip throughout the different pays would be an incredible experience.
SupprimerYes, I always think the diversity of France is incredible, especially considering it is smaller than the state of Texas. They have so much soul and beauty within their borders. It is no wonder they didn't want to migrate to America, I don't think i would want to leave France either.
SupprimerChapter two addressed the deep connection the French have with their land and the various ways it has influenced their culture. My favorite portion of the chapter was the “symbolic dismantling” of the McDonald’s restaurant by the Larzac farmers. The man behind the protest was name Jose Bove. Although the authors originally thought the demonstration was organized to fight globalization, it turned out to be more about the unique relationship the French have with their land. To put it simply, the French are not terribly fond of change. The French obsession with food can be traced back to their relationship with their land. Many of the techniques used to create some of their most iconic foods have been in practice for generations. For example, Roquefort cheese is a two hundred million dollar per year business but the cheese itself can only be produced in the caves of the town of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon because the cheese needs to be aged using a specific bacteria that reproduces there. In France, land is separated into regions called pays. Pays are areas that are recognized as distinct though they aren’t delineated by legal boundaries. Pays are regarded by the French similarly to the way “home towns” are regarded by Americans. No matter where they move, their pays follow. Cuisine varies greatly between pays. A lot of this has to do with the great variation in the country’s geography. I was very surprised to hear that France has rain forests, glaciers, arid regions, and even active volcanoes. This diversity makes it possible to grow almost anything.
RépondreSupprimerOn a side note as a biology major, I am curious about why the bacteria to make the Roquefort cheese survive only in that cave. I wonder what conditions make that possible, and if those conditions could be recreated in a lab to support bacterial growth.
SupprimerI wonder if there is a list of the top five pays to visit before you die, or are they all equally amazing?
I thought it was really interesting that the farmers were breaking apart the McDonald's for reasons other than globalization, too. One would think that McDonald's is THE symbol of globalization and fast food, not authentic cuisine, and that the farmers were mad because fast food is insulting or something. I also thought how the cheese is made and aged is cool. I had no idea! I wonder how long the cheese needs to age, though?
SupprimerYes I was also unaware there were volcanoes in France! The symbolic dismantling definitely would have been fun to take part in, kudos to the farmers for sticking up for what they believe in. I think that most Americans can be to accepting of big-time multinational corporations. Usually these corporations do not have the best intentions for humanity in store. They don't usually take very good care of the environment and aren't too focused on quality or the needs of workers. To many corporations based out of the United States, money is the only thing that matters.
SupprimerWhat I am wondering is why they are hiding these volcanoes! I heard never heard that before reading. The French are blessed to have the resources that they have because it means that they can virtually produce anything. They have the means to export goods and materials as well as accommodate the people. They're in great shape as a nation.
SupprimerChapter 2 focuses on the very important symbiosis the French people share with the land they occupy. In the instance of French culture, geography does not just denote where one comes from, it also indicates culinary habits, cultural traditions, and ways of life. The authors did a good job in describing the reverence the French hold for their land especially when recounting the case of José Bové and his fellow Larzac farmers. Not comfortable with the fact that fast food and multinational corporations were infringing on their gastronomic background, the farmers took measures into their own hands and defaced a future McDonalds in the name of food rights. One look at the process necessary to make Roquefort cheese shows how seriously the french take food and the necessary geography to make this food taste the best it can. In fact, the French are firm believers that the soil in the ground across varying regions have their own distinct tastes. This chapter really just reiterated the things I have heard about French culture and read in the preceding chapters; the French love France. They like the land, they like the history, they are proud to be French. As Barlow says, they constantly speak of where food is coming from, and even though they do shop at supermarkets and eat fast food on occasion, they still have a profound respect for fine dining.
RépondreSupprimerI found that the last couple of paragraphs on the correlation between population growth and agricultural development was really interesting. I like to imagine that this is a good representation of the French mindset: stubborn but spectacular. Not keen on the idea of changing their agricultural practices, they had no problem letting their other European neighbors grow larger then them. They were to busy being French.
They were to busing being french. Thats funny. i agree with you, they are stubborn but spectacular. They are so focused on their traditions and cultures which makes them very respectable. They carry out traditions from generation to generation. Why would anyone eat rabbit? because thats what they did when they had to hunt to get food a very long ing time ago
SupprimerI believe your response is very well written. I like how you use the term symbiosis in referring to the French having a beneficial relationship with their land without harming it. Unlike Americans, where we seem to destroy rather than form a lasting bond. I also found the paragraph on population stunt in France very interesting! They seem to have reached their limit and have made, what seems to be, a generational unconscious adaption to fencing what could have led to savage overpopulation.
SupprimerChapter 2 was about the French and how attached to the land they are. If you ask them where they were born they would tell you the name of the Pays they were born in. The cuisine in France is also very different depending on what area you are in. French people are very prod of where they came from and are very proud of the food that comes from that place. They are so proud of the food that farmer have destroyed a McDonald’s because they though people should be eating French food like a special blue-cheese on a beget. Food in general seems to be important throughout France. The French are not sensitive to the fact that we kill animals and then eat them. They can look at live cows and just see food. They actually eat a lot of live animals and are not grossed out by it.
RépondreSupprimerIn this chapter the Authors say that the land characterizes the French. I believe that this thesis is true. My Impression is that the French are very proud people and are very connected to their roots. Based on their history the French were divided by cultural differences. Some of these cultural characteristics have stuck with the French via their proud personality. The cultural separation was broken up by Paris.
I thought this chapter was especially interesting because they are so many things that are different from the U.S. For example, the way they think of animals and food. In the U.S. there are vegetarians and people who don’t believe in eating meat. In France I don’t see vegetarians fitting in. People in France find it comforting to see picture of the dead cow being cut that morning. Show that to a vegetarian and they would have a fit. Even the Food they eat is vastly different. In the US most people don’t eat pigeon or snails. I would recommend this second chapter to someone who likes learning about cultural differences.
Geography has had a lot to do with French culture; everything from food to characteristics has been influenced by the fact that France is very land oriented. One such example of geography playing an important role in France’s cuisine would be the Roquefort cheese, a cheese that can only be produced in the caves of the town Roquefort-sur-Soulzon. Another such example is the pays, regional districts, which are best distinguished by their respective regional cuisine. I personally associate pays to the different regions of the United States, and how we have different types of dishes per region, which is especially recognizable when considering the southern region of the United States. Furthermore, the pays represent the various groups that France had been divided into pre-Revolution era. In addition, France’s geography has also determined its climate. France is no bigger than Texas, yet has a variety of climates ranging from the winter climate in the Alps to the rainforest in the Basque area. Before reading this chapter I had thought France was a colder region, however, after reading this segment, I now know that France is just as, if not more, diverse in climate than the United States. Yet, I had already known that in order for certain delicacies to be considered as such, they had to come from a certain area. To clarify, as the book states, in order for champagne to be considered champagne, it must have been produced from around the region of Champagne. The reading intrigues me, I had not considered France to be so diverse, but it seems to be more complex than any other country. I would suggest this reading to anyone wanting to travel to France because they would make a fool of themselves if they neglected this reading.
RépondreSupprimerIn chapter two, the authors share their experiences with the french and the pride they have for their land. They begin the chapter with a hilarious yet important scene involving the destruction of a McDonald's. That one event occurred in protest of several things including a surtax mounted on the Roquefort cheese and genetically modified food. It seems as if they fear that fast food will tarnish the tradition of using locally grown produce and livestock, which is understandable since the fast food industry is an addictive competitor to locals. That is one example of how proud the french really are when it comes to their land. They also have what are called Pays, which are regions that divide the country of France. These Pays each present their own contribution to France's wide variety of cuisine. Since the climate is different for each of these pays, the type of produce that farmers grow in them. In a way, the pride that the French have in their pays are similar to the pride that Americans have in their regions (South, North, Midwest, etc.). Even though we change our residency, we tend to cheer for our hometown sports team whenever they play or prefer foods that originated in our regions. I believe this similarity is what makes the idea of living in France a must for those who take pride in the lands in which they are from.
RépondreSupprimerI completely identify with what you are saying about the United States. I have been to the south numerous times and the way they eat, talk, dance, etc is very different from the north. It is one of the things that makes this country great, so of course it makes France great too!
SupprimerThe French are not only diverse from the rest of the world in terms of culture, but also within France the people are diverse. It is as if France itself is its only little world. Depending on where a person grew up in France, they would be able to tell you what is different about their culinary traditions and cultural traditions. These hometowns where French people are from are called Pays and are very much a cultural following. What is eaten a lot in one Pay may be totally different from another pay. It was very appealing to me to read about how much the French truly value eating meat. When I think about it, there are not too many groups of people in the world who don’t collectively eat meat. It would not be in your best interest to live in France and be a vegetarian. You could if you wanted to, but it would be difficult because you would be surrounded by live animals being eaten as well as dead ones. Farmers in France work hard to provide sustenance for the French people. I also learned that France has a wide geographical diversity as well. In my head I would like to think that France looks a lot like Paris, because well, that’s the first thing that pops into my head since I have never seen the country. However, I know from chapter 1 and 2 that the rich history and beloved old towns don’t make that so. France is volcanic, but also has rainforests, and everything in between.
RépondreSupprimerI like how you describe France as being its own little world, which reflects the vast diverseness of France. I don't agree that it would be harder to be a vegetarian due to that fact that they are so closely bound to the earth, and are able to get food that is more organic than here in the US. I also had thought of France as looking like Paris, but I suppose that is our American ignorance.
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