The decision to impose on Monday unique menus without meat in schools in Lyon strongly reacted to the opposition.
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Sispeo / Sipa
From Monday, unique and meatless menus will be served in schools in Lyon.
A decision taken to respond to the health protocol, justifies the mayor who recalls that this had already been put in place during the first confinement and before the change of municipality.
The opposition nevertheless denounces a "tour de force" to "impose an ideology on children", namely to eat vegetarian.
A simple email, addressed to elected district officials, set fire to the powder.
On February 15, the Education Assistant for the city of Lyon announced to them the establishment of a single “meatless” meal in schools from next Monday, February 22.
A decision taken to respond to the new health protocol imposed by the government.
And that until the Easter holidays.
This announcement was enough to trigger a salvo of reactions and a cascade of indignation in the ranks of the opposition.
The elected representatives of the right and the center immediately denounced a "tour de force" of the municipality "to impose its ideology" on children.
And were indignant at not having been consulted, just like the parents of the students.
"Impose their ideology on children"
“By advancing in a hidden way behind technical criteria of meal preparation and fluidity of service, Grégory Doucet [the EELV mayor of Lyon] and Stéphanie Léger [his education assistant] impose above all their ideology on the children of Lyon, s 'wins Etienne Blanc (LR), ex-candidate for municipal elections.
This way of making a choice, without any alternative, is strictly inadmissible.
"
"In reality, the team of Grégory Doucet seizes the health protocol as an opportunity to accelerate what they had planned in their campaign program", accuses in turn Béatrice de Montille, municipal councilor of the 3rd arrondissement.
The Greens were planning to offer a vegetarian meal of your choice every day of the week from 2022.
The town hall, contacted by
20 Minutes
, however firmly denied these accusations, recalling that the menus served from Monday “will not be vegetarian” since they consist of “fish and eggs”.
“The new health protocol imposes a distance of two meters in school catering against one meter previously.
We are now forced to accommodate fewer students at the same time.
So to speed up the service and get everyone registered to eat during the lunch break, we have chosen a single menu, ”she explains.
A concept already applied when Gérard Collomb was in charge of the town hall
According to the municipality, meals without meat would be "those which suit the greatest number of children".
“If we take into account intolerances, allergies, children who do not eat pork, meatless menus are the least restrictive.
They also make it possible to avoid the massive recourse to the picnic ”, adds it surprise of such a controversy.
Because the choice of a single meal without meat is not new.
Neither an ideology of the new municipality, we are assured.
The concept had already been applied during the first confinement for the children of caregivers who ate in the canteens of the city.
But also between May and July 2020. And the town hall was then headed by Gérard Collomb.
“At the time, this did not pose a problem for anyone,” recalls from the town hall.
And there, it is by no means a final decision since as soon as we can, as soon as the sanitary situation allows it, we will reintroduce the menus with meat.
»End of the controversy?
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Lyon
Gregory Doucet
Canteen
Meal
EELV
Society
public school