Italian City Bans Foreign Food

Until a short time ago , Italians mostly ate Italian food , but in the past decade more and more immigrants have been coming into the country and with them their food. Now Italians are fighting back.

The Tuscan town of Lucca does not want any kebab shops and Chinese restaurants in their historic city any more. Lucca, about  60 km from Florence, hasdeclared that it wants to preserve its food tradition. Therefore,  no more foreignfood shops are allowed.

A debate is going on between town leaders and the population. Is it possible toforbid other cultures in our era of globalization? Italy’s agriculture ministersupports the ban. He says that it is important to preserve Italian culture and tradition. 

Others are ashamed of  what has happened. Critics of the new law say that a lot of typically  Italian food does not originate in Italy but comes from other regions: tomatoes from South America or pasta from China.

The issue is also influenced by the politicians of the region. In northern Italy the right wing  Northern League is very strong. It is againstforeigners and foreign culture in Italy.

Italians are also afraid that products from other countries are being sold as Italian. Cheap restaurants buy low  quality olive oil from Greece or Turkey . Truffles that are are imported from  China are often passed on as Italian truffles from the northern part of the country. 

On the other side the agriculture minister has told his fellow citizens that they should not eat their loved pineapples, but instead turn to panetone, a type of sponge cake.

The medieval town of Lucca in Tuscany 

Words

• agriculture =farming
• ashamed of =to feel bad because you have done something
• ban = here: the new law
• decade = a period of ten years
• declare = to say officially
• forbid = not to allow
• foreign = from another country
• immigrant = a person who comes from another country and wants to live or work in a new country
• influence =to affect the way something develops or the way somene thinks or feels
• issue = topic
• law =the rules of a country
• originate = come from
• pass on as = to be seen as
• politician = person who has a political job in the government or in parliament
• preserve = to save something
• support = to be for something
• therefore = that is why
• truffle = like a mushroom that grows under the ground; it is very expensive
• Tuscany =area of northern Italy famous for wine and beautiful old cities