By CATHERINE FIELD Herald correspondent
PARIS - Ostrich, kangaroo, bison, boar and stag, as well as nut rissoles and vegetable stew, are appearing on French dinner plates as the country snubs beef, worried by the amplifying scandal over mad-cow and foot-and-mouth disease.
Previously familiar to the French only from children's books or a trip to the zoo, so-called "exotic" animals started to creep into the kitchen after cases of BSE leapt last November.
Sales of such meats are now increasing at double figures thanks to an outbreak of food-and-mouth disease among British sheep. Unlike BSE, this ailment is not dangerous for humans, but the scare has further encouraged shoppers to dabble in new, untainted sources of meat.
Ostrich steaks and roasting joints, imported from Israel and South Africa, are now being sold by Carrefour and Auchan, the country's two biggest supermarket chains, alongside traditional cuts of chicken, turkey and duck. Next to the beef section can be found cuts of United States farm-reared bison as well as stag and deer meat. Others are farm-grown boar as well as horsemeat. The steack de cheval, previously part of the folklore for any foreigner travelling in France a couple of decades ago, is making a comeback.
The French Agriculture Ministry estimates demand for bison at 3000 tonnes per year, ostrich at 1500 tonnes and deermeat at 3000 tonnes. That percentage is tiny compared with the beef market, which remains the biggest meat sector even though its sales have plunged by more than a third in the past six months, and the market for pork and chicken, which have also increased by double digits in the past three months. Prices for the new meats are high: ostrich is selling at between $50 and $80 per kilo depending on the cut, which is twice as expensive as beef.
The other big winners in the food scare are vegetarians and organic producers. Farmers with certifiable bio beef are making a fortune. Their numbers have risen from 3500 in 1996 to 8500 today.
The Vegetarian Alliance, a federation of vegetarian groups and animal lovers, has successfully lobbied hamburger chain Quick to consider putting a vegetarian option on its menu. And it is pressing the Government to spend a tiny fraction of the billions of francs in subsidies it devotes to the meat industry to promoting the health benefits of vegetarianism.
But perhaps the biggest blow to the carnivore tradition is the abandonment of meat by one of France's top chefs. Alain Passard says his restaurant l'Arpege, which has the top rating of three stars in the Michelin guide, will soon serve vegetarian-only fare.
Feature: Foot-and-Mouth Disease epidemic
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