Breadwinner: French baguettes score coveted UNESCO heritage status
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization announced Wednesday that the French baguette has been added to its list of intangible cultural heritage.
The “artisanal know-how and culture of baguette bread” was inscribed into the list as part of the 2022 additions, which also included manual bell ringing in Spain and the practice of modern dance in Germany.
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French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the addition to the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list by hailing the baguette as “250 grams of magic and perfection in our daily lives,” while also hailing it as a French way of life.
250 grammes de magie et de perfection dans nos quotidiens. Un art de vivre à la française. Nous nous battions depuis des années avec les boulangers et le monde de la gastronomie pour sa reconnaissance. La baguette est désormais au patrimoine immatériel de l’Unesco ! https://t.co/91joZkQPI2
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) November 30, 2022
“The baguette is a daily ritual, a structuring element of the meal, synonymous with sharing and conviviality,” Audrey Azoulay, director-general of UNESCO, said about the French staple. “It is important that these skills and social habits continue to exist in the future.”
Michel Euler/AP
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The baguette started being called that name around the 1920s and grew in popularity in France and around the world throughout the 20th century.
Bakeries in France make around 6 million baguettes a year, per Le Monde. The report also said that baguette consumption is in decline and hundreds of bakeries in rural parts of France close every year.
