Malbouffe
Malbouffe (cf. mal = bad, bouffe = term for food, derived from the French Argot ) is a dysphemism for a certain type of food.
Today this term is widespread in French-speaking countries and is generally used as a derogatory term for food that is considered to be inferior and harmful to health, especially fast food products.
origin
The name is a creation by Stella and Joël de Rosnay , which they introduced with their book La Malbouffe .
This designation became known to a broader public outside France through a protest by French farmers against US punitive tariffs on French agricultural products, during which the McDonald’s branch in Millau, which was under construction , was destroyed by farmers on August 12, 1999 . The farmers' union chairman José Bové , one of the leaders of these farmers, used the term as a catchphrase to stigmatize American products, to defend the products of French agriculture and to underline their quality.
Meanings
Central characteristics of Malbouffe are little variety, a standardized taste and an unbalanced composition, which can lead to overweight , obesity , diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases . Ketchup , hamburgers and sweet drinks are typical ingredients of this type of food.
José Bové and his co-authors define the term in their book The world is not a commodity as follows:
"Malbouffe, bad food, relates to two things: to the standardization of food and the worldwide harmonization of the taste buds, for which McDonald's is the prime example, and on the other hand to the threat to our health from genetic food, hormone calves, BSE cattle, pesticide residues, etc. , in other words, all the side effects of an agriculture that is trimmed for ever higher productivity and which endanger the environment, animals and people. "
In everyday French life this term is also used for bad food. In the German-speaking area, this term is used colloquially, for example, in the regions of German-speaking Switzerland that border France , but mostly in press articles or media releases that are directly related to France and its cuisine, or - thanks to Bové's candidacy in the 2007 presidential election campaign - to his Politics stand.
Footnotes and sources
- ↑ Stella et Joël de Rosnay, La Malbouffe: comment se nourrir pour mieux vivre . Seuil, Paris, November 1981 ( ISBN 2020059746 ).
- ^ Bové, José, François Dufour and Gilles Luneau, 2001. The world is not a commodity. Farmers against agronomists. Rotpunktverlag, ( ISBN 3-85869-217-4 )