At the heart of the Parisian Forum des Halles, huge donuts stand on a white facade, accompanied by humorous slogans, like this one: “Macaron, resignation!” » Nour and Chloé, two 21-year-old students, burst out laughing when they discovered them: “It’s funny, we love it. » On December 6, the American chain Krispy Kreme will open its first point of sale in France here. Quite a symbol.
“It will be the temple of the donut, covering 550 square meters”, boasts Alexandre Maizoué, general manager of the French subsidiary. She did not choose Les Halles by chance: “It’s a place of hyperflux where workers, students and tourists converge: ideal for fast food. » In fact, the major American brands, McDonald’s, Burger King and even KFC, are all present in the neighborhood – where Nour and Chloé, like many young people, meet their friends to “fill up on burgers”.
“Places of sociability, epicenter of new eating habits, fast food restaurants are an ideal laboratory for studying our lifestyles and what has been happening in our cities for forty years”observes Luc Gwiazdzinski, geographer and specialist in urban space at the National School of Architecture in Toulouse.
In fact, fast food has become part of French customs since the arrival of the first McDonald’s in 1972. “Because we are always more in a hurry and no longer go home for lunch”, summarizes Eric Birlouez, sociologist of the restoration. While emphasizing that from poke bowls to pizzas, including tacos and onigiris, the offerings of these brands are increasingly diversified. And far from being just junk food.
“An important place in the food offering”
Despite certain inaccuracies – establishments are sometimes poorly listed and their closures not always taken into account – the Sirene database, from INSEE, shows that their number now exceeds that of traditional restaurants in many cities, such as Marseille or Nantes. But also, in certain neighborhoods in the north of Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne, where median incomes are low.
“In Ile-de-France, the priority districts for city policy are those where fast-food restaurants occupy an important place in the food offering”, explains Capucine Frouin, doctor in urban planning from Paris-Est Créteil University, who works on these issues. That’s not all, she adds: “There are also fewer fresh fruit and vegetable shops there, and the food environment is less favorable to health. » Like the Quatre-Chemins districts, in Pantin (Seine-Saint-Denis), des Cinéastes and de la Plaine, in Epinay-sous-Sénart (Essonne), or even Bobigny.
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