EU – France wants its cuisine registered as world heritage

   PARIS, Feb 2é, 2008 – France is about to ask for its cuisine to be
officially registered by UNESCO as part of the world’s cultural heritage, a
group of chefs and academics lobbying for French gastronomical recognition
said Thursday.
   The request for French cooking to be added to UNESCO’s list of intangible
cultural treasures will be announced by President Nicolas Sarkozy during an
address to the country’s farmers on Saturday, said the group.
   The group was set up with the help of the European Institute for the
History and Cultures of Food (IEHCA) and comprises some of the country’s top
chefs — including Paul Bocuse, Alain Ducasse and Michel Guerard — as well as
academics, writers and cultural VIPs.
   Arguing that "cuisine is culture", the group has been lobbying in favour of
its case since 2006, when UNESCO recognised the notion of "intangible"
cultural heritage.
   "Good cuisine is a real national cause," Jean-Robert Pitte, who heads
Sorbonne-Paris IV University, earlier told AFP. "But French people nowadays
are not eating well."
   UNESCO’s approval would help the country’s food chiefs put wrongs right, he
said.
   However, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation has
already turned down a similar request from Mexico, the first time a country
had attempted to get its food heritage recognised by UNESCO.

AFP