Food Politics/ Tuscan City Bans Kebabs
The city council of Lucca has stirred up controversy and even elicited charges of racism for banning kebabs within the walls of the historical city center according to this article in the New York Times. Lucca, a very conservative city, and the only city in Tuscany with a right wing government, is fiercely proud of its Etruscan heritage and traditional foods. In a city “where even Sicilian food is considered ethnic”, kebab houses are at the center of this political food fight. (A member of the city council claims the council only let kebab shops into the city in the first place because they didn’t know what kebabs were!) Italian youth, in particular, enjoy non-Italian food like kebabs, and in these harsh economic times, the $5 price tag is a bargain, so kebabs are popular in Lucca. The four kebab houses that already exist will be allowed to stay, but the law bans any new ethnic or fast food restaurants in the city center. Some residents of Lucca are angry about the ban and others support it. Is the ban a good way to preserve traditonal foods in an ancient city? Is it a racist (or at least xenophobic) attack on Italy’s growing immigrant population? Is it ridiculous, crazy, or just too late as some Lucca residents have charged? Would it be a different story if a McDonalds were at issue rather than a kebab house? Read the article and decide for yourself.
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