stop! drop your kebabs!

Cartoon courtesy of Drive-by Times

As even a casual observer of European politics is aware, the U.S. is not the only Western country to harbor anti-immigrant, Know-Nothing sentiment. In fact, for all of our Tom Tancredos and "Minutemen" [warning: that link goes to a website full of right-wing xenophobia], we've got nothing on Berlusconi's Italy.

A new movement in Northern Italy wants to severely restrict restaurants from serving "non-Italian" (i.e. "ethnic") food. The picturesque walled town of Lucca, in Tuscany, passed a law banning the opening of any new restaurants that don't serve "traditional" Italian food.

The Left describes it as "gastronomic racism" and the Times of London comes through with an appropriately bombastic headline: "Italy bans kebabs and foreign foods from cities."

The reality is not quite so severe (not yet, at least). Lucca's law, as far as I can tell, is a small town, semi-reactionary attempt to keep the downtown area (i.e. inside the medieval walls) from losing its quaint atmosphere.

A spokesman for Lucca's town hall defended the new rules, saying they were meant to safeguard the city's traditional and cultural identity and that it also applied to sex shops, fast food restaurants and take-away pizza parlors.

"The ban targets McDonald's as much as kebab restaurants," he said

Plus, the already existing ethnic restaurants--which include four kebab shops--will not be forced to close down.

Still, there does seem to be a broader xenophobe-cuisine in the works. According to the Times, many Northern cities are considering similar action.

Luca Zaia, the Minister of Agriculture and a member of the Northern League from the Veneto region, applauded the authorities in Lucca and Milan for cracking down on nonItalian food. “We stand for tradition and the safeguarding of our culture,” he said.

They fear not only foreign culture, but competition. Immigrant cooks apparently work too hard:

Davide Boni, a councillor in Milan for the Northern League, which also opposes the building of mosques in Italian cities, said that kebab shop owners were prepared to work long hours, which was unfair competition.

The best part about this controversy is the ridiculous situations it might generate. How does one determine what is "foreign"? Will fusion cuisine be banned? Isn't pizza essentially an American invention? (not to mention the fact that tomatoes come from Latin America). Imagine the new types of purity tests right-wing politicians will have to pass. The Times is already on it:

Asked if he had ever eaten a kebab, Mr Zaia said: “No – and I defy anyone to prove the contrary. I prefer the dishes of my native Veneto. I even refuse to eat pineapple.”

Oh man. His re-election campaign is going to be so screwed when the photo of him ordering from Amar's shwarma gets out!