[BITList] A 3 course lunch anyone

[FA]

/A pre amble to selling real estate
frank

/

/Équilibre/is a word that features ubiquitously on packaging, in recipes 
and in TV and press advertisements concerning food products here in 
France. The word means "balance". The (perfectly reasonable) intention 
behind the use of the word is to promote an awareness of the need for a 
healthy diet and good eating habits.

Wait -- do I hear the sound of air being expelled between lips?Do I 
detect eyebrows being silently raised in disbelief?

In a country famed for its cuisine, which produces a cheese for every 
day of the year, which is the home of foie gras and confit de canard and 
where hardly a dish exists which is not prepared with a liberal helping 
of butter, how can "balance" be part of the equation?

In the USA, some 35% of the population is now classified as obese.At the 
same time, France is concerned that the percentage has risen to15% in 
recent years.

Deaths from heart disease in the USA amount to 106.5 per 100,000 people 
(in the UK that figure is even higher at 122/100,000)In France, the 
figure is 39.8 per 100,000.

Ah -- but the Americans and the Brits eat more than the French, don't 
they?Well no.The average calorific consumption per adult in the USA is 
2073 kcal/day.In France that rises to 2095kcal/day.

But don't the Brits and Americans consume more saturated fats?No again. 
The average French adult consumes six times more cheese, five times more 
processed meat, three times more fresh meat and eggs and four times more 
pastries than the average American.

These and other statistics are presented by the organisation CREDOC in a 
paper published this month in response to studies carried out over the 
past couple of years.The authors stress that other factors in obesity 
and heart disease are smoking and exercise, or the lack of it. They do 
not draw firm conclusions, but point out that the French diet is 
traditionally more varied and meal times are traditionally more rigidly 
set.The French tend to snack less between meals and to consume less 
sugar in the form of carbonated soft drinks and fruit juice.

The picture, however, is not as rosy as one may imagine.The report's 
authors point out that among the younger French (ages 21-34) the amount 
of different foods consumed over a period of three consecutive days is 
in decline.There is also strong evidence that the young consume more 
sandwiches and eat less in the way of fruit and vegetables.This may, in 
part, be explained away by the current economic recession, they say, but 
if the trend continues then major problems could be building up for the 
next generation.

Four main principles for maintaining the "équilibre" are vital, they 
maintain.

1.Eating meals as a social or family affair

2.Eating a wide variety of foods

3.Adhering to set meal times

4.Keeping to a traditional format of starter, main course and dessert

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