Lyon (AFP)

Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie ruled on Tuesday that the decision of the Lyon town hall to provide unique meatless menus in canteens was a "shame", while refuting any "cacophony" to the government on this subject.

"Who (...) can understand that today in the canteens of the Republic we stop serving meat every day of the week? Obviously I do not understand it but like many, many parents of students, "said Julien Denormandie on RTL.

"There is no cacophony within the government. There is a position which is a posture of a municipality Europe Ecology the Greens which consists in stopping serving meat to our children, and it is aberrant of 'a nutritional point of view and it is a shame from a social point of view, "added the Minister of Agriculture and Food.

The day before, her colleague at the Ecological Transition Barbara Pompili had "regretted" a "prehistoric debate", mentioning "hackneyed clichés, of the type + vegetarian food would be an unbalanced diet +".

Since this weekend, the ecological municipality has been trying to explain that the single menu without meat is a technical measure, in order to chain more services to compensate for the reduction in childcare due to the pandemic.

"Today we have to live with this virus. (...) Why the Lyon town hall would be the only one, or almost the only one, not to be able to provide meat to our children where all the other town halls get there ", asks the minister.

He denounces an "inter-self ecology where each time it is those who are the most fragile, who do not necessarily have access to balanced meals who are penalized by such decisions".

According to him, Ms. Pompili was questioned on Monday about the possibility of offering meatless alternatives, which he is in favor of.

But "it's very different to tell our children (...) + In the canteen you have the choice + (...) than to tell our children + In the canteen we stop serving you meat +", he insisted.

"There is a lot of ideology" in this decision, denounced for his part the president of the FNSEA Christiane Lambert, on Public Senate Tuesday morning.

"Why only the city of Lyon has problems ensuring barrier gestures" in the canteens, also asked the president of the majority agricultural union.

© 2021 AFP