Chicken wars ruffle feathers in Paris suburb

{"text":[[{"start":5.75,"text":"In France, a fiery argument has broken out over a very important issue: grilled chicken. "}],[{"start":11.7,"text":"At the epicentre is a chain called Master Poulet that just opened its newest shop steps away from the town hall of Saint-Ouen, a working-class suburb north of Paris. "}],[{"start":23,"text":"During lunch, the appetising smell of roast chicken wafts over a long queue of customers eager for a copious, affordable meal: on offer are tenders, wings, drumsticks, sausages, or a mysterious chicken “doughnut”, accompanied by rice or fried plantains and a drink, starting around €7. "}],[{"start":42.2,"text":"But Master Poulet has one very unhappy customer. Karim Bouamrane, the mayor of Saint-Ouen and rising star in the Socialist party, has been battling the chain, not only for allegedly flouting planning rules and causing complaints over noise and smells, but also in his quest to promote healthier affordable food."}],[{"start":62.75,"text":"“This is a legal battle but above all a political one,” Bouamrane said on France Télévisions after the town lost an initial court hearing to shut down the shop. “I have no problem with chicken, I love it, it’s my favourite dish!” "}],[{"start":null,"text":"

• Karim Bouamrane points and speaks to supporters with a serious expression while surrounded by applauding people at a political meeting.
• Alt text: Banner on the Master Poulet restaurant reads, “Combien es-tu encore prêt à dépenser pour jouer aux apprentis shérifs ?”

"}],[{"start":77.7,"text":"But Saint-Ouen already has too many chicken shops, the recently re-elected mayor argued, so his strategy was to “promote establishments and amenities that promote healthy eating”. Just because Saint-Ouen was home to some on tight incomes and immigrants, they should not be offered only cheap food that “ghettoises” them."}],[{"start":96.80000000000001,"text":"Days after Master Poulet opened, Bouamrane put up concrete blocks to prevent access to the shop, arguing that the restaurant’s veranda had been illegally installed. Master Poulet filed an emergency lawsuit against what they described as an illegitimate shutdown. The court ordered the blocks to be removed as a disproportionate restriction on business freedom."}],[{"start":118.50000000000001,"text":"The shop reopened with cheeky banners mocking the mayor: “Like it or not, Karim . . . we’re open and we won’t raise our prices”, read one. “Karim public funds are not to serve your ego; how much more will you spend to play sheriff?” The company also posted satirical videos on social media depicting the mayor’s escalating attempts to close the shop."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":139.25,"text":"The cockfight could have stopped there. But the Master Poulet debacle quickly became a front in France’s culture wars — gentrification, the transformation of French eating habits and the quest for convenience. "}],[{"start":150.95,"text":"Since the chain promotes its food as halal, far-right media charged it with catering to Muslims."}],[{"start":156.89999999999998,"text":"Halal shops have long been a lightning rod for the French far right. Mayors from Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National party routinely rail against the “kebabisation” of towns and push back against shops labelled as halal, saying they undermine France’s secular culture. "}],[{"start":173.14999999999998,"text":"Regardless of how it is presented, French poultry consumption has gone up steadily over the past decades, overtaking beef and pork in 2024."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":182.89999999999998,"text":"The chicken wars have also inflamed Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s far-left France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party, which quickly seized on the opportunity to pummel its arch-rivals, the Socialists. "}],[{"start":194.79999999999998,"text":"Éric Coquerel, an LFI member of parliament representing the district that includes Saint-Ouen, leapt to the defence of Master Poulet with a social media video taken in front of the shop. “I don’t appreciate the mayor’s authoritarian tendencies,” he huffed."}],[{"start":210.6,"text":"Saint-Ouen is part of the Seine-Saint-Denis department, the poorest in mainland France and where a third of the 1.7mn population is foreign born. "}],[{"start":219.25,"text":"LFI has been trying to supplant the Socialists there by more overtly appealing to immigrants and minorities and defending the working classes, and has won several key local elections recently. The anti-capitalist party has also highlighted the need for more social welfare programmes and public housing."}],[{"start":236.65,"text":"In contrast, Bouamrane and other Socialist leaders in the area want to develop the economy and bring in better jobs so as to reduce poverty, while also welcoming in wealthier transplants from Paris. The mayor used the Paris 2024 Olympics to deliver on infrastructure, such as housing that was first used for athletes then converted."}],[{"start":259.15,"text":"Bouamrane has turned the plaza and streets around the town hall into a showcase for the new Saint-Ouen, complete with leafy gardens, a new eatery owned by well-known chef Thierry Marx, and a vegetarian bistro. "}],[{"start":274,"text":"“Master Poulet is a stain on the image of Saint-Ouen that the mayor wants to promote,” said Coquerel."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":281.15,"text":"Bouamrane has not given up the fight. Soon after the court forced the city to remove the concrete barriers, a row of giant orange flowerpots appeared outside the Master Poulet. Ironically, the orange pots complement the shop since they match its colour scheme, so customers now just line up next to them."}],[{"start":299.65,"text":"Coquerel said that he and Bouamrane had opposing views on what it meant to improve Saint-Ouen. “I want to make things better so the people who have lived here for decades — even if they don’t have as much money — will be able to stay. Not for them to be pushed out by rising prices on everything from rent to food.” "}],[{"start":318.59999999999997,"text":"Customers on a recent sunny afternoon appeared unimpressed with the sparring politicians. "}],[{"start":323.79999999999995,"text":"“There are much more important problems to be tackled such as derelict buildings and helping poor people,” said Viviane, a 27-year-old who works at a nearby university, after ordering fried plantains. “The mayor let Burger King and some kebabs open up nearby so why not Master Poulet?”"}],[{"start":null,"text":"

• A woman with long dreadlocks and sunglasses smiles while holding a Master Poulet bag, standing in front of a large orange planter.
• A man in a Master Poulet cap and gloves stands behind a counter with trays of grilled chicken, fried items, and sausages. A branded Master Poulet takeout bag is on the counter.

"}],[{"start":340.49999999999994,"text":"For Jérôme Fourquet, a pollster and author of several books on French demographics, Master Poulet was a “fascinating window” into how food culture was changing. "}],[{"start":350.6499999999999,"text":"US fast-food chains like McDonald’s — France is its second-biggest market in the world — Starbucks, Krispy Kreme and KFC have become omnipresent. Office workers have grown used to grabbing a sandwich, rather than having the stereotypical hours-long lunch with wine."}],[{"start":367.2999999999999,"text":"Fourquet said: “Master Poulet shows how French people are spending less time shopping at fresh markets, cooking, and eating together — contrary to how we imagine ourselves to be the home of gastronomy and savoir vivre.”"}],[{"start":380.5999999999999,"text":"Data visualisation by Alan Smith and cartography by Allysa Honra"}],[{"start":393.2499999999999,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1777799266_6527.mp3"}