February 19, 2010

A local branch of a fast food chain in France now serves only meat that meets Islamic dietary laws (i.e., halal). Non-halal products and pork have been taken off the menu. This branch in Roubaix is one of several Quick restaurants that had their menu changed to be halal. Quick decided to take a bacon cheeseburger off the menu at eight of its 350 branches, replacing it with a halal version that comes with smoked turkey. Quick said they made this change in order to test the "commercial interest and technical feasibility" of introducing halal menus -- as France is home to more than five million Muslims.

It should come as no surprise that there are people unhappy with the change. The mayor of Roubaix said that the change to a halal menu is a form of discrimination against non-Muslims. He called for a boycott of the branch. The town council also filed a complaint for discrimination with a regional court in Lille. Several deputies from President Sarkozy's conservative UMP party have condemned the menu change. And -- shocker of all shockers -- Marine Le Pen, vice president of the far-right National Front, said this was a sign of "Islamization".

The Quick manager at the Roubaix branch said that there has actually been a slight increase in business after the introduction of the halal menu, and that they have not received complaints from customers. (Full Story)

I don't think it's discrimination that this branch (or chain) is trying to accommodate and adjust to the growing Muslim population. There's no law that says a restaurant has to serve bacon cheeseburgers. Fast food chains have dropped or changed food items from their menus before -- it's not discrimination, it's just change. Plus, non-Muslims can eat halal food, but practicing Muslims cannot eat non-Halal food (unless it's a necessity). I'm sure there's still other places in town where these people can get a bacon cheeseburger if they want. If they think this is discrimination, I should hope they never actually experience real discrimination. I think this is yet another example of the growing fear in France about the growing minority population of Muslims. I'm sure there is an unfounded fear among some people in Roubaix (as well as other places in France) that sooner or later the whole town will be serving nothing but halal food and it won't look like France at all. As I've mentioned in previous posts on this subject, this unfounded fear has rarely played out in history (and not since the conquest days...).

(Plus, it's kind of ironic that what they're fighting for is a fast food chain which seems to be more of an American influence and not a traditional French cuisine institution. You don't often think of fast food restaurants as a symbol of French identity and culture.)