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A French city’s mayor removed meat from the school lunch menu, igniting a passionate debate that pits ecology against tradition, gastronomy, nutrition and personal choice.
* News report:
https://www.dw.com/en/france-meat-free-school-lunches-in-lyon-spark-controversy/a-56721005
To be fair, Lyon mayor Grégory Doucet had only pragmatism in mind when he wanted school canteens to stick to a single menu of instead of two. This would save time, thus avoid crowding and follow social-distancing norms. (The menu continued to include fish and egg too.) But coming from a Green party, he and now his supporters also have environment in mind. Processing meat take a heavy toll on environment, and non-vegetarianism is argued to be contributing to climate change. The small move can help raise awareness about benefits of going veg. [https://www.dw.com/en/vegan-meat-the-future-of-planet-saving-plant-based-eating/a-51054861] As for critics, the ecology minister has termed their views as “prehistoric”.
The decision has been denounced by many and split the government itself. The interior minister found it “unacceptable insult to French farmers and butchers” that betrays “an elitist and moralist” attitude. [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/world/europe/france-lyon-school-meat.html] The agriculture minister thought it was “aberrational from a nutritional point of view. " France in particular is fond of its gastronomical traditions and that cannot be overturned from above. For farmers and processors, this meat-based economy is the source of livelihood. Moreover, what to eat or not should be an individual choice, and removing that choice is bound to invite the charge of moral policing. Right-wing parties think people like Doucet should keep their politically correct environmental dogmatism to their homes.
* FAO paper on livestock farming’s carbon footprint:
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/429417/icode/
* Nutritional Quality of Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian Dishes at School:
www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients
* Country-specific dietary shifts to mitigate climate and water crises
https://clf.jhsph.edu/sites/default/files/2019-09/country-specific-dietary-shifts-mitigate-climate-and-water-crises.pdf
* IPCC report (see ‘Food Security’):
https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/
(Image of Gregory Doucet above, courtesy mayorsofeurope.eu)