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French cuisine is not what it was during a golden age that celebrated innovative artistry and a relentless uncompromising spirit.
Now, after decades of economic strife and imported dilution, cooking and dining does not have the same primacy or cache as in past generations.
Meals that once averaged 88 minutes are down to a measly 38 minutes as dual-income families rather microwave a prepared meal than cut, prep and cook from scratch.
Global domination by fast food giants such as McDonald's have the youth enamored with big flavors and portions for relatively low cost. The calorie-dense, nutrient-lacking foods that super-sized Americans have crept into French society making obesity as much a concern as in the United States. Indeed child obesity rates have been rising by 20 percent each year.
Whereas 50 percent of French cheeses used to be from raw milk, only 10 percent follow those traditions today. Regulations and other global market realities have dictated food production techniques like in no other period.
All aspects of French cuisine appear under attack from external and internal sources. The modern speed of life and work seems to make a return to past glories more and more impossible.
To have a romantic notion of France is to have deep feelings about the food culture. Like so many things in modern society, it too succumbs to the need for speed, convenience and affordability.
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