Marc Fesneau, Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Rima Abdul Malak, Minister of Culture, and Olivia Grégoire, Minister Delegate for Small and Medium Enterprises, Trade, Crafts and Tourism, welcome today’s registration of the “Artisanal Know-How and Bread Stick Culture” on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Coming from know-how present throughout the national territory, both hexagonal and ultramarine, the baguette is an emblem of French cultural heritage. It is the most popular type of bread across the country. Its origin goes back to the long breads of the seventeenth century, but its consumption became widespread during the twentieth century.
The inscription of the baguette in the intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO is a recognition of the know-how of our artisan bakers and enhances the entire sector (millers, cereals, employees and apprentices).
The proposed safeguard measures include the implementation of awareness actions on the importance of food practices as part of everyday life and shared by the greatest number. These measures will be fully supported by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, the Minister of Culture and the Minister Responsible for Small and Medium Enterprises, Trade and Commerce.
The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity consists of expressions that demonstrate the diversity of intangible heritage and increase awareness of its importance.
The Minister of Agriculture of Food Sovereignty, Marc Fesneau congratulates the entire profession of French bakers for this recognition of French know-how. This is not just recognition for artisan-bakers, but for the entire industry, from upstream to downstream, a whole tradition. The French baguette is excellence in simplicity, with only 4 ingredients (wheat flour, water, yeast and/or leaven, salt). Excellence rooted in the daily lives of all French people and recognized worldwide, of which we can all be proud!”
The Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, welcomes UNESCO’s decision to “dedicate the heritage dimension of the baguette’s artisanal know-how and recognizes that going to get your bread is also a cultural act, a moment of sharing and social bond. The baguette is recognized worldwide as a symbol of French gastronomy. In its various forms, traditional or reinvented by our artisans, the baguette has been the daily rhythm of the French - morning, noon and evening - for several centuries and has been exported to many countries.”
Minister Olivia Grégoire welcomes this announcement This decision contributes to the spread of the French way of life, the traditions of sharing and conviviality, and the know-how of our bakery artisans. It is a recognition of the culture of the baguette that it is up to us to preserve and protect, to ensure the transmission of this heritage.”