LE PECQ, France (AP) – By taking meat off the menu at school canteens, the ecologist mayor of one of France’s most famous gastronomic cities has sparked a storm of protest and debate as the country increasingly increases the environmental costs of its meat diet questioned. habits.
Children in Lyon who regularly offered choices, such as beef and chicken in rich sauces, found that their meat option was missing this week when they returned from school holidays. Instead: a meatless four-course meal that, according to Lyon City Hall, can be served faster and easier to children who need to be kept apart during lunch due to the coronavirus pandemic to prevent infections.
City Hall insists that the meatless meals are temporary and that school canteens will again offer meat options if the rules for social distance are removed and children again have more time to reflect on their food choices and to eat.
And the meat-free menus still contain animal proteins. This week’s planned main courses contains fish on Mondays and Fridays and eggs – either as omelettes or hard-boiled with a creamy sauce – on other days. Children also get salad starters, a dairy product – often cheese or yoghurt – and dessert.
Yet farmers saw red. Some drove farm vehicles, cows and goats to Lyon on Monday in protest, who are very proud of its rich restaurant culture and distinctive dishes, many of which are meaty.
Protesters’ banners and posters ate carnivores, saying “meat from our fields = a healthy child” and “stopping meat is a guarantee of weakness against the coming coronavirus.”
The government’s agriculture minister, Julien Denormandie, also weighed in and accused Lyon City Hall of ‘putting ideology on our children’s boards’. He and other critics argued that the measure would punish children from poorer families who could not eat meat outside of school.
“From a nutritional point of view, it is absurd to stop serving meat,” the minister said on RTL radio on Tuesday. “From a social point of view, it’s shameful.”
Although the French obsession with food and the country’s powerful farming lobby are fueled, the furor has also gained steam and gained a political color due to France’s election calendar.
A wave of victories by green candidates, including the mayor of Lyon, in last year’s municipal election gave the centrist party of French President Emmanuel Macron a blow. Their success reflects the growing concern in France about environmental damage due to intensive farming and other green issues. As more local elections are expected later this year, the quarrel over Lyon’s school meals provides a foretaste of broader political battles.
Lyon City Hall said serving the same meal to all children, instead of offering them their usual meat and meat-free options, would shorten the time they take for lunch. City Hall said it only has two hours to feed 29,000 children, which is harder to keep when classes in canteens have to be kept apart to reduce viral infections. City Hall said meat-free meals are also chosen because it suits all children, including those who do not normally eat meat because they have religious, dietary or other reasons.
Mayor Gregory Doucet said he is flexible, eats meat in reasonable quantities and does not try to impose vegetarianism on children.
“Being able to offer a hot meal to the children is important,” he told broadcaster BFM-TV. ‘This is Lyon, the capital of gastronomy. For us, taste is also essential. ”