Publish at November 01 2022 Updated November 01 2022
Feeding is not only vital to subsistence but it is also a good indicator of the collective mores of an era. Nowadays, the omnivorous diet is "accessible" to all strata of society. Food issues revolve around values.
In fact, in a context of major climate change, what we choose to eat has repercussions. Meat consumption is strongly associated with greenhouse gas production, excessive water use and deforestation. Yet, in many countries, this is part of "tradition."
While more and more people are calling themselves vegetarians (eating no animal flesh) or vegans (consuming no animal products, including milk and eggs), public and school canteens never offered vegetarian menus. At least this was the case in France until October 2018 when the EGALIM law passed. This legislation put in place the experimentation of a mandatory weekly vegetarian menu in all cafeterias for two years. Environmentalist organizations such as Greenpeace fought hard to get this law passed.
Since then, the Senate has extended this experimentation for another 2 years thus ending in 2023. One only has to read the press however to see all the unease behind the very idea of a meatless meal. For many French people, food culture is still based on poultry, beef, cold cuts, etc. For example, Grenoble's ecologist mayor Éric Piolle has decreed that starting with the start of the 2022 school year, a vegetarian menu would be offered every day. Schoolchildren would still be able to choose a mixed menu of fish, meat and vegetables. Result: 94% of parents took the fish or meat meal. A failure that shows just how ingrained the consumption of meat products is in the mores in France.
Surprisingly, the same National Assembly voted in its climate law that from 2023 onwards, public canteens will offer compulsorily a daily vegetarian option. A decision that delighted environmentalists and the AVF (Association Végétarienne de France), which will be able to see its members' rights finally respected. Why adults can and children can't
A big part of the answer lies in the perception that little ones need animal protein to grow. However, this is not entirely accurate according to nutritionists. While a vegan diet is not advisable since it has too many deficiencies, frequent vegetarian menus are not harmful at all. The French National Health Security Agency (Anses) revealed in a report published in November 2021 that one vegetarian meal a week does not affect the necessary nutritional intake in any way. Just make room for legumes for protein and whole grains like oats, rye or wheat for their fiber contribution.
What's more, reducing meat consumption has ecological but also economic impacts. We know that meat products are more expensive given the investment made by producers. Not to mention that a diet richer in plants decreases the risk of cancer but also of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
In addition, the poorest social strata often consume less vegetables and fruits. A vegetarian diet once (or more) a week would compensate for this lack. However, this type of menu is not without flaws. There may be greater opportunities for food waste with plants. Thus, reuse and composting must come hand in hand with an increase in vegetarian offerings.
Maybe for the pill to pass better we should see what has been done across the Rhine. Indeed, Germany has had these debates as well. In 2013, the German Green Party called for the implementation of a mandated meat-free day in school canteens. This led to fistfights over "freedom to eat" and some critics literally compared the idea to Nazism, no less.
Now, 10 years later, more and more German cafeterias have reduced the weekly meat portion. This is because of recommendations from the German Society for Nutrition, an independent scientific body, which said that children should not have more than one meaty meal a week. Germany, though the country of the sausage (wurst), is thus in the process of reducing its meat consumption. Moreover, 12% of the inhabitants claim to be vegetarians (twice as many as in France) and a third of young Germans (aged 14 to 29) make the same claim. And if this reduction in flesh has caused some discussion in some Länder, today, few parents fight against this healthy approach to canteens.
This transformation in Germanic land did not come alone. It required caterers and canteen workers to revise their nutrition practices in order to provide tasty, balanced and good food without resorting to meat. The city of Paris will see all of these canteens, including school canteens, provide two vegetarian meals per week by 2023 and make it mandatory by 2027.
It seems clear that this must be accompanied by training. Because as Sandra Franrenet, author of "The Black Book of School Lunchrooms," reminds us, offering vegetarian is fine. But if it does not come with learning to cook them well and to adopt local products, it is the food industry that will decree solutions just as polluting and deficient as meat diets.
Photo credit: en.depositphotos.com
References:
Aline, Marie. "Faut-il Proposer Un Menu Végétarien à La Cantine Tous Les Jours?" Le Monde.fr. Last updated January 25, 2021. https://www.lemonde.fr/m-le-mag/article/2021/01/25/faut-il-proposer-un-menu-vegetarien-a-la-cantine-tous-les-jours_6067479_4500055.html.
Bonnebas, Violette. "In Germany, Meat Fades From Canteens Without Protests." Reporterre. Last updated September 2, 2022. https://reporterre.net/En-Allemagne-la-viande-s-efface-des-cantines-sans-protestations.
"Canteens And Vegetarian Menus, Objective Achieved!" Greenpeace France. Last updated November 26, 2021. https://www.greenpeace.fr/cantines-et-menus-vegetariens-objectif-atteint/.
"Two Mandatory Vegetarian Meals Per Week In Canteens." Sud Radio. Last updated June 2, 2022. https://www.sudradio.fr/societe/deux-repas-vegetariens-obligatoires-par-semaine-dans-les-cantines.
Felley, Eric. "Intensive Farming: Grenoble: Vegetarian Menu Makes a Flop." Le Matin. Last updated September 6, 2022. https://www.lematin.ch/story/grenoble-le-menu-vegane-fait-un-flop-905111520727.
Girardon, Caroline. "Vegetarian Menu Becomes The Standard In Grenoble Canteens." 20minutes.fr. Last updated June 29, 2022. https://www.20minutes.fr/societe/3317803-20220629-grenoble-menu-vegetarien-devient-norme-cantines-scolaires.
Guyot, Eve. "Cantines Scolaires : Faut-il Développer Les Menus Végétariens ?" La Croix. Last updated February 25, 2021. https://www.la-croix.com/France/Cantines-scolaires-faut-developper-menus-vegetariens-2021-02-25-1201142513.
"Weekly Vegetarian Menu In French School Canteens Is Mandatory." Notre-planete.info. Last updated March 21, 2022. https://www.notre-planete.info/actualites/2997-repas-vegetarien-cantine-ecole.
"Les Cantines Au Régime Végétarien." Food Watch. Last updated March 30, 2022. https://observatoire-des-aliments.fr/qualite/les-cantines-au-regime-vegetarien.
"My Rights Are Not Respected, What To Do?" Veggies, A Site Of The AVF. Last updated January 26, 2022. https://www.vegecantines.fr/droits-usagers-cantines/.
"Paris: Canteens Will Serve Two Vegetarian Meals Per Week Starting in 2023." Sortiraparis.com. Last updated June 4, 2022. https://www.sortiraparis.com/actualites/a-paris/articles/276635-paris-les-cantines-vont-servir-deux-repas-vegetariens-par-semaine-des-2023.
Pistorius, Magdalena. "France and Germany divided over school meat issue." Euractiv. Last updated March 1, 2021. https://www.euractiv.fr/section/agriculture-alimentation/news/la-france-et-lallemagne-divises-sur-la-question-de-la-viande-a-lecole/.
Radisson, Laurent. "Towards A Daily Vegetarian Menu In Public Canteens." Actu-Environment. Last updated April 23, 2021. https://www.actu-environnement.com/ae/news/menus-vegetariens-cantines-projet-loi-climat-37421.php4.
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