CBS NEWS CLIMATE WATCH Barbecue-bashing 'eco-feminist' French politician riles carnivores by labeling meat macho

Paris — Are barbecues "a symbol of virility"?

A prominent French green MP has sparked a national debate by suggesting that red meat is macho and grilled ribs are a gender issue.

Sandrine Rousseau, a leading figure in the Europe Ecologie Les Verts party ( EELV) and self-declared "eco-feminist,"... cited work by French writer Nora Bouazzouni, author of the 2021 book "Steaksisme," which explored attitudes to food consumption.

Bouazzouni argues that eating habits are not gendered — or driven by protein requirements — but are instead learned cultural behaviours…

Far-right lawmaker Julien Odoul asserted that "since the dawn of time, the muscular mass of men means they eat more meat (protein) than women. It's not 'virilism', it's nature."

He vowed to continue his "Cro-Magnon diet based on French meat," referring to carnivorous cave-dwelling early humans found in southwest France.

"CECI N'EST PAS UN DINOSAUR"

Rousseau has emerged as a leading face in the EELV party since seeking the party's nomination for April's presidential elections by promising "punk ecology,"

Though EELV fared poorly in the presidential and parliamentary elections this year, they won control of a host of major towns and cities at the local level in 2020, including Lyon.Lyon's Mayor Gregory Doucet caused another food-related scandal last year by taking meat off the menu in school canteens to simplify the feeding of children during the Covid-19 epidemic.Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin attacked that move as an "unacceptable insult" to French farmers and butchers.

Rousseau's view of the causal hierarchy of climate change coincides with Jane Fonda's:

"If there was no racism, there’d be no climate crisis. If there was no misogyny, there’d be no climate crisis. It’s part of a mindset."