France, lunch time
In Italy we have some excellent example of typical open mind cities. The city of Lucca in Tuscany is not one of them. Lucca is a beautiful roman city, with 4.4 km of walls around the town where to walk, run, rollerblading or whatever you want to do there. I love Lucca. I love much less the Lucchesi, meaning the typical people of Lucca. I just read an article in which it is written that to save the typical food from Lucca and to save the tradition of this historical city, the mayor of the city (of course, not alone) decided that within the city walls, so in the perimeter of the historical city, which is the center of the city life, there cannot be any "ethnic" restaurant, meaning with ethnic any restaurant which is not typically Italian or even better Lucchese. If you also want to hear the TV news of the La7 about this, here it is.
Now, even if I completely agree and support the fact that preserving traditions is important and I am a big supporter of any kind of family and local tradition, this goes too far. First, how can a mayor decide what people have to eat downtown a city "to preserve the Lucchese tradition"? second, if this is not a form of culinary racism I don't know than how to call it and third, why if I live in Lucca and want to eat Chinese food I have necessarily to go outside the city? Beside, typical food in touristic city is normally expensive, so does the mayor of the city want that all the city inhabitants, including students etc, with little money will stop eating out? or should they all take a car and drive somewhere else where they can find "ethnic" food? Is this a sign of opening to other cultures and knowing more about what it is different from what we know?
I think there were many better ways to support local activities and safe traditional places. For example, the city could organize a culinary festival to attract people to know more about the typical local food. Or they could think of some advantage for restaurants preparing local food, such as less taxes for their activity and things like this. But forbidding "ethnic" restaurants within the city walls is a real shame.
If you feel that this decision is ridiculous and very narrow minded, please link this post and the linked original article in Italian on your blog, website, wherever you want. This blog already did it. What it is happening in Lucca is a negative example that should not be followed.
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This is quite a tough issue. The mayor is obviously wrong. You can't tell people what to do. Its not even a debatable point. But, on the other hand, I think the eradication of traditions are inevitable because of business competition, increased choice, and globalization of peoples and markets. My guess is that the heritage of Lucca will slowly wash away, and then people will come to regret it, but not enough to ever bring it back. All your suggestions, I think, wouldn't amount to much. They are just little gestures. A few people will keep the Lucca tradition alive and hopefully pass it on so that its not completely lost.
On the other hand, there are movements starting in the US (although the culture here is much more fragile and undeveloped) to improve community design, interaction, and sustainability, and this is perhaps the future of the world because of all our energy problems. This will hopefully lead to more efficient communities where there is more local cultural cohesiveness and more things are locally produced. Maybe this will help preserve the culture of Lucca more than anything. The question of course is how long do these movements need to take root and what will we lose by then.
Just my own personal opinion.
~Scott
In Lucca, the mayor can decide how many permits to give to open new restaurants and where. This means that if you feel like there are too many "ethnic" restaurants downtown, then you will stop giving additional permits to open new, similar restaurants. Of course none wants the traditions of Lucca to be washed away, but a mayor deciding that as a rule no typical Italian and local restaurants can open within the city wall sounds to me a bit like an abuse of power. So, I agree with you that I wouldn't like to lose traditions, but I am also not favorable to a few deciding for all on matters like this.
I agree with you, generally speaking. But Lucca is not as many towns in US and EU. Probably you didn't spend enough time in Lucca to be aware of this, but what this town does not really risk is "washing away" traditions, at least for being substituted by ethnic. Lucca is deeply traditional and narrow-minded, and proud of the walls enclosing the town.. everything is old, tastes old, reminds of the past. There is plenty of places where to find traditional food. then, with tourism also many new and "untraditional" bars and fastfood and restaurants and bed&breakfast appeared everywhere.....I do not like it as well, but this is not ethnical risk, it happened to Pisa and Rome years before immigration from not-EU countries started ... and why no to kebab and yes to pizza, then?
I am for integrating cultural differences in the complete respect of these differences (local and not)...and if we talk about food, even more. I think that respect is the key-word. Respect of traditions, of history and of differences. This doesn't mean to be completely over-open to what is different to avoid to be called "racist" as it is happening at the moment in Holland. It means trying to integrate difference in an open-minded way, which is not being too permissive, but also not forbidding what is different. Which is not always easy unfortunately.
Well, I guess it all depends on whether the next generations will keep the culture and traditions alive. People might have traditional tastes and tendencies, but will they actively keep the culture alive, especially when there are more and more choices. I also think its important to consider that we are not just in a global cultural cycle. Communication and access to things are increasing exponentially, and so its hard to even conceive of the rate at which local culture may be eroded and even the most supported traditions may not be immune. But maybe I am just pessimistic.
~Scott
This is why supporting activities that supports traditional local sports, food etc is important and Lucca is big in this (e.g. with the Settembre Lucchese). I just think that forbidding something is never the best solution to solve a problem that at the moment is not even a problem. In the interview I linked to the post there is a woman in there saying that Lucca has to remain of the Lucchesi...If this is not being narrow-minded.....
But again, of course I want to keep local traditions. I am a big fan of them. But there is no need of being ignorant to preserve them. I am traveling around the world all the time and exactly observing the differences that there are around the world made me appreciate even more where I come from!
Avevo 15 anni e c'era il favilla sindaco... ora ne ho 43 e ci riè il favilla sindaco... che ci si può aspettare da un vecchio di 80 anni suonati!?! Vista l'età al massimo sarà permesso mangiare un pò di brodo di gallina e qualche mela cotta, ma senza vino per carità che fa male...
Vino e galline tipicamente toscane, altrimenti rischi di andare sull'etnico..... ;-) ma davvero c'era gia' Favilla anni fa??? e che andiamo al riciclo a Lucca???
C'era c'era... se arrivo a 80 anni è capace che me lo ritrovo sindaco ancora...
Vasco
poi magari se non c'e' lui ci sono sempre i figli, i cugini, i fratelli, i nipoti...insomma qualcuno della famiglia a cui lasciare il posto c'e' senza dubbio, no?
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