The Ministry of Culture has decided and will present the candidacy of the French baguette for inclusion in the intangible cultural heritage of Unesco.
It was preferred to the zinc roofs of Paris and to a wine festival in Arbois.
France has chosen to present the candidacy of the baguette de pain for inscription in the intangible cultural heritage of Unesco, in preference to the zinc roofs of Paris and to a wine festival in Arbois, we learned on Friday at Ministry of Culture.
"A food practice that is part of everyday life"
The ministry had until March 31 to file its case.
The final decision will rest with Unesco, which will not take a decision before the fall of 2022. Rue de Valois thus confirmed to AFP information from the
Parisian
, which indicated that the Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot had made her choice.
"If this national candidacy were successful before Unesco, the inscription of this element will make it possible to raise awareness that a dietary practice that is part of everyday life, shared by the greatest number and goes without saying, constitutes a heritage to fully-fledged, ”the Minister of Culture said in a statement.
The text of the ministry recalls that the number of bakeries is "in constant decline, in particular in the rural communes".
"In 1970 there were 55,000 artisan bakeries (one for 790 inhabitants) against 35,000 today (one for 2,000 inhabitants), often for the benefit of the sale of industrially produced baguettes", he adds.
The baguette rather than the roofs of Paris
The baguette, symbol of the daily life of the French, immortalized by films and advertisements, is an appellation that appeared at the beginning of the 20th century in Paris.
The baguette was therefore preferred to the zinc roofs of Paris and to the Biou d'Arbois, a feast of the Jura, of medieval and religious origin, which was transformed into a republican feast.
Nearly a hundred files around the world each year obtain the label of inclusion in the heritage of intangible property.