Vegetarians banned in French schools

[Tobi]

Schoolchildren will now find it impossible to have vegetarian options provided at school meals. A new law is due to be passed on October 3, which states that all protein in school meals must be animal-based protein.
Of course an individual child has the freedom to choose not to eat the meat, but in cases of some dishes, like Cassoulet for example, that might mean having very little to eat instead.
Children are also obliged to eat dairy products.

http://www.care2.com/causes/vegetarianis...hools.html

Fewer than 2% of the population of France are vegetarian, and apparently it is almost impossible to find balanced vegan meals there too.

While I can certainly understand a 'healthy eating' programme for children, it seems strange that a country so well known for its cuisine, can't get a healthy meat-free meal together for those who have registered as non meat-eaters?

[LPC]

Oh, yes! France is a nation of meat eaters. Tamara and I can't find even a vegetarian restaurant within one hour's drive from here. As for a vegan restaurant, one might as well hope for the moon. There are ways around it in some restaurants. Most offer a very large starter buffet (with a choice of dozens and dozens of vegetable dishes, as well the mandatory meat and fish). Some will allow people to return to the buffet several times instead of having the main course (almost always meat, with fish also available on Fridays). But as we grow almost all of our own food, restaurants are not a big issue for us.

However, for French school children it looks like the current socialist government is going down the road of "We know best" and the individual conscientious objections of parents and children to meat will be totally ignored. The fact that there are so few vegetarians in France (and extremely few vegans) means that their objections will be few in number and hence there is little risk of a major outcry.

It is a sad story. I feel sorry for the vegetarian and vegan children in France. Their life will be virtually impossible, unless their parents can get home at lunchtime to feed them. They will otherwise have to go hungry. It will be no use protesting to the school or canteen staff. Their hands will be tied by central government rules. A terrible tragedy in the making.

[Tobi]

I can certainly understand that many adults may be concerned that a growing child is getting all the necessary nutrients. Some may be concerned that a strict vegetarian (vegan) diet might not provide all the nutrients for a growing child. But surely the answer to that is not restriction of free choice, but education!
It would only take a few hours' research online to come up with a perfect vegan diet for a child, with nothing missing.

As far as kitchen management is concerned, it only takes an extra utensil, to make vegan cassoulet AND meat cassoulet at the same time. I have done that many times when cooking a meal for myself and a meat eater. Hardly any bother involved.

[Catherine]

I admit I had to look up cassoulet. It is along the lines of the baked beans(white navy beans) or the chillie(red kidney beans) that we make here. Both dishes are made with or without meat. If there is no meat, then a slice or two of brown bread balances the protein and gives complete nutrition.

I can appreciate that they want to have nutritional standards. However it is now understood that heavy meat consumption is not good for us. There should always be a choice of meals offered unless the school is very small. They are not taking into account that there are people with allergies. Certainly increasing numbers of people can't eat dairy products.

Is the purpose of this to increase meat consumption? I can't see that they are responding negatively to the 2% who are vegetarian. The number of vegans must be very small.
I would think a school lunch with healthy vegetable and fruit choices would be better.

LPC you would love to eat out in Toronto. There are vegetarian and vegan restaurants. Many regular restaurants have vegan choices. The bakeries offer vegan breads and cakes and treats. Many pizza places have vegan pizza options(the topping and the crust are vegan).

[LPC]

(04-22-2015, 04:07 PM)platy Wrote: Is it not possible for them to make their own lunch and take it to school with them?
....
That's incredibly dictatorial and sad.

In France there are strict rules about eating at lunchtime for school children. Pupils have a choice: eat at the canteen, or go home for lunch. Bringing your own food is not allowed.

Regarding the new rules coming in about the compulsory menu of meat (or nothing as an alternative), I totally agree with you, platy. It is incredibly dictatorial.

[LPC]

(04-22-2015, 08:49 AM)Tobi Wrote: As far as kitchen management is concerned, it only takes an extra utensil, to make vegan cassoulet AND meat cassoulet at the same time. I have done that many times when cooking a meal for myself and a meat eater. Hardly any bother involved.

How right you are! But any canteen staff attempting to do that would be subject to disciplinary action, for not following the new central government guidelines. It is a decree "from on high".

[Tobi]

Well, definitely not a democracy; more a form of dictatorship.
"We tell you what to do, and you will do it, and woe betide you if you disagree because your children will go hungry."

This assumes an awful lot. Mainly that the children and parents don't know what they are doing, if they choose to be vegetarian.

And they are not even allowed to take packed lunches!!

[LPC]

The difference with the UK is considerable. In the UK county where I worked for many years, along with many other shire counties, the school canteens in primary schools were closed years ago (for cooking meals) and only used as areas for children to sit in to eat their packed lunches. Only secondary schools kept their canteen service - mostly as "choose what you want" cafeterias, with a choice of dishes. So for younger children, the only option was a compulsory packed lunch, unless they could go home. But in France, it is the opposite: packed lunches are banned! It would amusing in any other circumstance, but not in this case.

[Catherine]

I had no idea things were like that in France. I always think of it as a democracy. It is not much of a democracy if they make rules about children's school lunches.

How can they ban children from bringing food from home?
I am sure many children can't go home for lunch. They are either saying they don't trust parents to feed their children properly or they are saying they want to control what children eat. That is extreme government interference.

Is this an attack on vegetarianism or an attack on parental rights?
Platy you are so right, this is incredibly dictatorial and sad.

[LPC]

The rules about eating either at home or in the canteen are, I believe, very old. The "on the hoof" quickie lunches eaten by people in the UK, USA and Canada are anathema in France. Lunch is the main meal of the day and lunch breaks for workers are often an hour and a half or two hours long (making the day a bit longer than elsewhere). Breakfast is very light as people start work early here (absolutely no sausages and eggs like there used to be in the UK!), so everyone stocks up on energy at midday.

This is not all bad. I have seen workers from our local DIY store all go to lunch together at the same restaurant. It is a social occasion, to be savoured and enjoyed. That was the original idea behind children eating either at home or in the canteen; they should have a filling, hot meal and not just sandwiches.

But these new rules controlling what children eat are something different. I'm not sure who or what is behind these developments in terms of motives, but it is sinister. Most meat eaters roll their eyes when someone says that s/he is vegetarian or vegan. They just don't understand.

My granddaughter lives in the USA. She made a conscious choice to become a vegetarian herself (and no, we did not influence her; she decided upon such a course with one of her school friends after watching an animal welfare video her friend had found). Her mother in the USA is a meat eater, but is willing to cook vegetarian meals for her. So tolerance should be the watchword, not intolerance as shown by the current government.