Over a decade ago, I began to notice the foundations of discrimination and speciesism on which Paris’s restaraunt industry is built upon. Many restaurants refused — even outright denied — service to one of the city’s biggest demographics: rats. The more I learned about the food industry, the more I began to realize that the problem was not only cultural, but institutional. City codes and regulations forbade rats from partaking in the culinary industry under the guise of outdated “health” standards, which were really just rat-lining regulations in disguise. Ever since speciesist health inspectors shut down my old place of work, I’ve made it my life’s mission to increase rodent representation in the food industry. My restaurant, La Ratatouille, employs a species-diverse kitchen staff of both humans and rats. My goal is to break down the cultural barriers that prevent rat acceptance in the restaurant industry, one hogtied health inspector at a time.
Appointed village idiot
