Sandrine Rousseau and the rib steak, “symbol of virility”: the facts behind the controversy
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- The phrase “controversy”
Sandrine Rousseau, deputy Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV) of Paris, participated Saturday August 27 in the summer days of the party, in Grenoble. In a panel discussion on meat consumption and its impact on the climate, she said: “You have to change your mentality so that eating a steak cooked on a barbecue is no longer a symbol of virility. »
- chain reactions
This “little sentence”relayed in particular by a journalist from the Dauphiné liberatedvery quickly aroused outraged reactions. “When the grotesque reaches its climax… Stop these delusions! »wrote on Twitter the deputy Les Républicains (LR) Eric Ciotti. “Enough to accuse our boys of everything!” Stop the “deconstruction” of our men! Stop the delusions of Rousseau, reacted Nadine Morano (LR).
Asked about Europe 1 on Tuesday, the first secretary of the French Communist Party (PCF), Fabien Roussel, also said: “We eat meat according to what we have in the wallet, and not according to what we have in our panties or in our briefs. »
Sandrine Rousseau, on the other hand, received the support of Clémentine Autain, deputy La France insoumise (LFI), who recalled on BFM-TV, that “women eat half as much red meat as men” or Julien Bayou, from EELV. On the other hand, Yannick Jadot, who had been nominated as the Greens’ presidential candidate, facing Sandrine Rousseau, had a more measured reaction on Wednesday on Franceinfo: he “sorry these controversies” and believes that he “We have to be very educational and always manage to articulate the major global challenges and the daily life of French men and women”.
- Consumption gaps between men and women
The gender gap in meat consumption was measured by a national individual study of food consumption (INCA), which is carried out every seven years under the aegis of the Ministries of Health and Agriculture.
We read there that “Gender disparities appear during adolescence and become more pronounced in adulthood. They relate in particular to food consumption, which is more in line with dietary guidelines for women (favoring poultry, yogurts and cottage cheeses, compotes, soups, fruit juices and hot drinks) than for men (favoring other meats, cheeses , desserts and dessert creams, charcuterie, sandwiches and savory pastries, soft drinks and alcoholic drinks). » A figure is often underlined: the median consumption of meat (excluding poultry) is 43 grams per day for men aged 18 to 79, compared to 27 grams for women.
Meat, expensive, was historically a prestige food reserved for the wealthy or for festive occasions. “In the context of the scarcity of meat for peasant and working-class populations, the consumption of meat products also varied within a household, with the head of the family having the right to larger and better portions to replenish strength. of work and ensure the satiety of the one who “earned the bread”, recalls a FranceAgriMer study on the evolution of vegetarian diets in Europe, citing anthropological studies. We can indeed see the root of the image of meat as a male food. » An increase in interest in vegetarian diets, or reducing meat, has been observed, with a prevalence among women, this study also highlights.
- A proven link between meat and climate change
Meat consumption, which exploded worldwide from the 1960s, has a considerable impact on greenhouse gas emissions and therefore on climate change.
Some meats are more resource intensive than others. One kilogram of beef is equivalent to 27 kg of greenhouse gases (GHGs), while producing the same amount of lamb meat emits 39 kg of GHGs. Far ahead of pork (12.1 kg), turkey (10.9 kg) or chicken (6.9 kg).
A collegial commission formed by the medical journal The Lancet had estimated, in 2019, that Europeans should reduce their consumption of red meat by 77% to respect planetary limits and their health, while doubling their consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes.
According to a study published in November 2021 in the review Plos One, based on the dietary habits of 212 Britons, a vegetarian diet emits 59% less greenhouse gases than a conventional diet. And on average, the diet of the men studied had a 41% greater impact than that of the women, largely due to the difference in meat consumption – and to a lesser extent alcohol.
- The symbolic dimension of the debate
In a context of heated debates on social inequalities and the climate emergency, meat is becoming a subject of political tension. According to essayist Jean-Laurent Cassely, co-author of France before our eyes (Seuil, “Human Sciences”, 2021), media and conservative personalities seize on it to affirm that part of the left would like to prevent the French from eating what they want, especially red meat.
Green MP Sandrine Rousseau has become one of the favorite targets of conservative circles because of her remarks mixing ecology and feminism. She is the co-author, in this new school year, of an essay entitled Beyond the Androcene (Seuil, “Libelle”), which points to the link between patriarchal organization, capitalism and the effects on the climate.
Several times the victim of cyberbullying, mocked by parody accounts on Twitter, she is also the subject of a complaint for “disparagement” from the National Hunting Federation, for remarks made during a France 2 program about the involvement of shotguns in feminicides.
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