Voreppe, France—Police are investigating a suspected arson attack on a McDonald's restaurant under construction in eastern France.
The restaurant was destroyed by fire although and nobody was injured.
|
Edoardo
Raspelli was sent on a field trip to McDonald's and Burger King in
Milan. Having seen the future, he declared that it did not work. `It takes
a big effort to imagine this food as healthy. The ambience was mechanical,
the chips like cardboard and the bread poor. I found it alienating and
vulgar. Edoardo Raspelli is one of Italy's leading culinary critics and who has written dozen of books on food. He called the chain's Big Macs as "fodder" and its fries as "obscene and tasting of paper." Ananova 28may03 |
Police suspect foul play was behind the fire, which rapidly consumed the single-story building in Voreppe, a suburb of Grenoble.
Construction of the restaurant was nearly complete and it's due to open next month. The fire blew out windows, collapsed the building's roof and shattered much of its interior.
The fire, which investigators believe started in the kitchen, came amid a heated court battle launched by residents opposed to the McDonald's presence.
Residents said they objected to the odors and increased traffic expected from the restaurant's drive-in service. On Wednesday, they won a temporary court order suspending construction, pending a decision by a higher court.
Other McDonald's restaurants have been similarly unwelcome in France.
Anti-globalisation activist Jose Bové rose to fame in 1999 when he and nine others used farm equipment to dismantle a McDonald's branch under construction in Millau, in the foothills of the Massif Central mountains.
Bové, who served a 61-day jail term for the action, opposes what he calls "foul food" _ including genetically modified crops and McDonald's-style fast food that has become mainstream in France.
|
If
you have come to this page from an outside location click
here to get back to mindfully.org |