France's Kebab Crackdown

France is currently engaged in a national debate focusing on grilled meat garnished with salad and wrapped up in a flatbread. Kebabs returned to the political spotlight last month, when the city of Marseille announced a crackdown on snack bars in its city center—allowing officials to preempt commercial leases in an area where almost all these establishments are kebab shops. This comes on the heels of a more explicit anti-kebab ban in the city of Béziers in 2015. Meanwhile, several major Italian cities, including Florence and Venice, are trying to banish the hugely popular street food from the city core, too.

The food fight isn’t explicitly about employment, taxation, or foreign policy, but all three do come into play—as does the bigger question of national identity. The kebab, France’s third-most-popular takeaway food, has thus become a focal point for the debate about multiculturalism and how cities imagine themselves.