Why France is finding vegan croissants hard to stomach

[hunter]

There it sits, in all its flaky glory, with a crust the colour of autumn leaves, and two plump claws almost begging to be torn off and devoured. Light as air and as French as the guillotine.

One impeccable croissant.

But this particular pastry - among dozens crowding a display shelf in an unremarkable looking boulangerie in central Paris - is no ordinary offering. Far from it. For this is a butter-free croissant, a crisp swerve away from more than a century of devout culinary tradition and a nod towards larger forces seeking to reshape French food and agriculture.

Sacrilege has rarely looked so seductive.

-- more --

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68944117

It's good to know I'm able to get a fine croissant that doesn't require industrial scale egg or dairy production.

This article illustrates once again how small farmers don't recognize the actual threats to their familiar way of life. It's not the people who are trying to reduce their environmental footprint by avoiding certain foods, it's the giant corporations that would happily burn out, bankrupt, and/or buy out small farmers to further industrialize production.

Industrial scale milk and egg production is a very ugly business. It's not good for the environment, it's not good for the workers, and it's especially bad for the cows and chickens.

I'd buy a vegan croissant not because I have any grudge against small farmers. My grudge is against the giant industrial food corporations that masquerade as small farmers themselves or use small farmers as their political pawns.

[MOMFUDSKI]

1. You can't make a croissant without butter like

there is no crying in baseball!

[brush]

2. Enough. Does it taste as good as a real croissant?

[FBaggins]

3. The author doesn't seem familiar with France at all

The "two plump claws" croissant shape has been a sign that there is no butter involved for quite some time.

Real croissants made with butter are usually straight.

Believe it or not - there's actually a law.

[hunter]

4. The entire bakery is vegan. That's the story.

If he was selling croissants that imitated real butter croissants he'd be breaking the law, no?

[FBaggins]

5. But the *title* claims an issue with vegan croissants

When, in reality, almost every Frenchman who eats something that Americans would call a croissant (based on its shape)... is eating a vegan croissant.

If he was selling croissants that imitated real butter croissants he'd be breaking the law, no?

Yes - if he made them in the shape that says "I'm a real butter croissant" - he would be breaking the law.

Note - I have no idea how significant the penalty is for this violation... but the underlying point is that there are lots of products in a traditional french bakery (including the classic baguette and Pain de Campagne) are already vegan. Now... A pastry shop would be a bigger challenge... but the author called it a bakery.