Editing Culture of France (section)

===Food and alcohol===
{{Main|French cuisine}}
[[File:Crêpe opened up.jpg|thumb|A sweet [[crêpe]]. Crêpes are originally from [[Brittany]].]]
Traditional French culture places a high priority on the enjoyment of food.<ref>{{cite web|author=UNESCO |url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/celebrations_healing_techniques_crafts_and_culinary_arts_added_to_the_representative_list_of_the_intangible_cultural_heritage/ |title=Celebrations, healing techniques, crafts and culinary arts added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage |publisher=UNESCO |date=16 November 2010 |access-date=4 June 2012}}</ref> French cuisine was codified in the 20th century by [[Auguste Escoffier|Georges Auguste Escoffier]] to become the modern version of ''[[haute cuisine]]''. Escoffier's major work, however, left out much of the regional character to be found in the provinces of France. Gastro-tourism and the ''[[Guide Michelin]]'' helped to bring people to the countryside during the 20th century and beyond, to sample this rich ''[[bourgeois]]'' and [[peasant]] cuisine of France. [[Basque cuisine]] has also been a great influence over the cuisine in the southwest of France.

Ingredients and dishes vary by region (see: [[French cuisine#Regional cuisine|Regional cuisine]]). There are many significant regional dishes that have become both national and regional. Many dishes that were once regional, however, have proliferated in different variations across the country in the present day. Cheese (see: [[List of French cheeses]]) and wine (see: [[French wine]]) are also a major part of the cuisine, playing different roles both regionally and nationally with their many variations and ''[[Appellation d'origine contrôlée]]'' (AOC) (regulated appellation) laws, ([[lentils]] from [[Le Puy-en-Velay]] also have an AOC status). Another French product of special note is the [[Charolais cattle]].

[[File:Jacques Lameloise, escabèche d'écrevisses sur gaspacho d'asperge et cresson.jpg|thumb|left|A [[nouvelle cuisine]] presentation]]

The French typically eat only a simple breakfast ("petit déjeuner") which consists of coffee, tea or [[hot chocolate]] with milk, served traditionally in a large handleless "bol" (bowl) and bread or breakfast pastries ([[croissants]]). Lunch ("déjeuner") and dinner ("dîner") are the main meals of the day. Formal four course meals consist of a starter course ("entrée"), a [[salad]], a main course ("plat principal"), and finally a cheese or dessert course. While French cuisine is often associated with rich desserts, in most homes dessert consists of only fruit or [[yogurt]].

Food shopping in France was formerly done almost daily in small local shops and markets, but the arrival of the supermarket and the even larger ''"hypermarchés"'' (large-surface distributors) in France have disrupted this tradition. With depopulation of the countryside, many towns have been forced to close shops and markets.

[[File:Lille Meert2.JPG|thumb|French ''[[pâtisserie]]'' play a role in traditional part in French culture]]

Rates of [[obesity]] and [[heart disease]] in France have traditionally been lower than in other north-western European countries. This is sometimes called the [[French paradox]] (see, for example, [[Mireille Guiliano]]'s 2006 book ''French Women Don't Get Fat''). French cuisine and eating habits have however come under great pressure in recent years from modern fast food, such as American products and the new global agricultural industry. While French youth culture has gravitated toward fast food and American eating habits (with an attendant rise in obesity), the French in general have remained committed to preserving certain elements of their food culture through such activities as including programs of taste acquisition in their public schools, by the use of the [[appellation d'origine contrôlée]] laws, and by state and European subsidies to the French agricultural industry. Emblematic of these tensions is the work of [[José Bové]], who founded in 1987, the ''Confédération Paysanne'', an agricultural union that places its highest political values on humans and the environment, promotes [[organic farming]] and opposes genetically modified organisms; Bové's most famous protest was the dismantling of a [[McDonald's]] franchise in [[Millau]] ([[Aveyron]]), in 1999.

[[File:French taste of wines.JPG|thumb|left|[[French wine]]s are a traditional part of French cuisine.]]

In France, [[cutlery]] is used in the continental manner (with the fork in the left hand, prongs facing down and the knife in the right hand). French etiquette prohibits the placing of hands below the table and the placing of elbows on it.

The legal drinking age is officially 18 (see: [[Legal drinking age]]).

France is one of the oldest wine producing regions of Europe. France now produces the most wine by value in the world (although Italy rivals it by volume and Spain has more land under cultivation for wine grapes). [[Bordeaux wine]], [[Bourgogne wine]] and Champagne are important agricultural products.