Petition to allow vegetarian options in French schools

[Blobbenstein]

French schools are not allowed to provide a vegetarian menu in schools at the moment, I gather, and meat is mandatory. This is supposed to promote French "agriculture", and the food culture of France, but it is probably all about big money in the meat industry.
Here is a petition to try to get veg menus in schools, although the petition bases its argument around religious freedoms, ie no non-halal meats, no pork, no meat on Fridays for Catholics etc....but the petition is to get veg options all the same.

This is Google Translate version of the petition:

The mayor of Chalon-sur-Saône decided to delete from the canteens of his city alternative menus to meet the children concerned not to eat pork, breaking with a communal habit of several decades.

This highly controversial measure and for the less brutal reopened a dispute over 10 years about the nature of school menus, leaving many elected in a dismay face a public debate increasingly virulent.

Can we force a Catholic child to eat meat on Good Friday because nothing else is offered, or a Jew or a Muslim child to eat pork?

In the canteens of the Republic, should take into account the religious requirements and if so what limits?

Should we force children to fast, if not wanting to violate family rules?

This debate is far from simple I admit, I am faced as mayor.

The right balance is often difficult to find both approaches and ulterior motives of each other come deflect the question.

In the absence of rule or authority capable of defining it, this topic is becoming hostage to all forms of extremism and the source of a useless confrontation aimed in reality in most cases the Muslim community.

The Republic has, to me it seems, nothing to gain by letting prosper this controversy which challenges our ability to make "living together" a reality.

Yet there is on this relatively simple and totally secular solution that would relieve the elected managing our canteens and respond to all legitimate expectations of families.

So I will table a bill to make it mandatory in all canteens vegetarian alternative menu daily menu to allow those who do not want meat or fish, for whatever reason, to feed so balanced.

There are indeed very many culinary possibilities for the protein dose required to be contained in each meal vegetarian menus respectful of health, taste and family practices.

Through the implementation of this obligation a vegetarian alternative in our canteens, it comes out the religious field confrontation debate by giving each child a free will and favoring moreover a food fashion increasingly recommended for its health virtues and already practiced by over 1.5 million people.

Because secularism is not the uniqueness and does not commit to impose a single menu for children, it's time to close these latent wars.

On behalf of their dogmas do not let the extremists of all stripes the opportunity to take hostage the base of our children and are doing the contrary secularism rhymes with freedom.

https://www.change.org/p/pour-une-alternative-végétarienne-obligatoire-dans-les-cantines-scolaires

I posted this in the coffee thread, but more may see it here.

It has around 90,000 signatures so far.

 

[Amy SF]

Are students allowed to bring meals from home, at least?

 

[Blobbenstein]

Are students allowed to bring meals from home, at least?

I don't think they are, no.

 

[Amy SF]

That's terrible. What about allergies? Children should be able to eat foods that won't potentially make them sick or even kill them.

 

[Blobbenstein]

I'm pretty sure they make allowances for food allergies.

 

[Blobbenstein]

this from last year:

8:37AM BST 05 Apr 2014


School canteens will no longer offer non-pork meal options in towns where France's anti-immigration far-right Front National (FN) party won local elections, its leader Marine Le Pen has said.

Mrs Le Pen reignited debate on a sensitive issue about the substitution meals targeting mainly Muslim and Jewish pupils for whom pork is taboo.

"We will accept no religious requirements in the school lunch menus," Mrs Le Pen told RTL radio. "There is no reason for religion to enter into the public sphere."

She defended the decision saying it was necessary to "save secularism".

France's Le Pen: ban non-pork meals in schools

So I guess some kids have to have pork on their plates, at the moment, plus they have to pay for it.

France is a strange place.

 

[Blobbenstein]

when I had school meals in the 80s, it was either pizza and chips, or cheese pasty and chips...every day, unless I was having sandwiches.

If someone had been vegan at the time, they could have had chips and baked beans, and I think they had something resembling salad.

 

[Andy_T]

Veganism and vegetarianism aside, I find that the real reason behind this "ban", which is right-wing people's hatred of people with other religions, makes the whole thing even more unpalatable to any normal-thinking person (presuming such still exist in France, even in places where the right wing has won the elections).

 

[Second Summer]

Sickening beyond belief that a supposed civilized country will attempt to force the flesh of murdered animals down the throats of children.

There should be sanctions against France.

 

[Andy_T]

Ah, but who from any of the other countries where 98% of the population happily force the flesh of dead animals on their own kids, would stand up for any kind of sanctions?

Don't be ridiculous, please ;-)

 

[Second Summer]

More on this:

Mayor wants ALL school meals to be vegetarian to avoid offending other religions
A MAYOR has said that all schools must serve vegetarian meals to avoid offending religions other than Christianity amid increasing migration in Europe.

More: Mayor wants ALL school meals to be vegetarian to avoid offending other religions (9. Sept. 2015)

Not so accurate reporting there, by The Express. The mayor wants vegetarian meals in addition to the regular carcass meals - as the article actually does state, but the headline is wrong. I suppose the editor or someone wanted to make it a bit more sensational. And if you read the comments (which I don't recommend) one of the readers actually points this out, but most of the readers have gone with what the headline says ...

 

[Blobbenstein]

If people just went with the headlines in papers, this would be one weird democracy.....oh...

 

[ledboots]

If people just went with the headlines in papers, this would be one weird democracy.....oh...

The New York Post has the worst headlines. SENSATIONALISM at its giant font worst

 

[Blobbenstein]

IT'S TEH VEGPOCALYPSE!!!