12-05-2025
Ecologist's call to ban Comté infuriates French foodies
Comté's nutty, slightly sweet flavour has made it the most popular artisan cheese in France, but it is at the centre of an row after a radical ecologist called upon his compatriots to stop eating it.
Pierre Rigaux, founder of Nos Viventia, an association that campaigns for animal rights and biodiversity, said the production of the hard cheese in eastern France was bad for the environment and 'terrible' for cows, since they almost all ended up in an abattoir.
In an interview on France Inter, the state radio station, he conceded that it was a 'pleasure' to eat Comté but said that was far outweighed by the damage to animals and ecology.
His words have infuriated traditionalists, who have accused him of attacking a gastronomic
