The ministers disagree on the position to be adopted vis-à-vis the decision of Grégory Doucet, the mayor of Lyon, concerning meatless meals at school.

The Prime Minister therefore tried to put an end to the internal controversy, but it spread to the majority.

The single meatless menu continues to divide the government and the majority.

For several days, ministers and the majority have displayed very contradictory positions.

Some, like Gérald Darmanin and Julien Denormandie have denounced "an ideological measure" of the ecological mayor of Lyon, Grégory Doucet, when the Minister of Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, considers that it is a "prehistoric debate".

Faced with this ambient "cacophony", Prime Minister Jean Castex intervened.

"The less we feed self-supporting controversies, the better off we are," he tried to convey.

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Jean Castex wants to put an end to the controversy ...

In an email sent last night to all the ministries, Jean Castex's cabinet deplores "a form of ministerial cacophony" and very clearly recalls the method: "upstream alignment, downstream alignment".

Far from what has been shown so far.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food, Julien Denormandie was among the first to draw, calling not to "put ideology on the plate of our children".

Let's stop putting ideology on our children's plates!



Let's just give them what they need to grow well.

Meat is one of them.



I seized the Prefect of the Rhône.

https://t.co/Kiw0v5ZaNC

- Julien Denormandie (@J_Denormandie) February 21, 2021

A position taken up by the Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, who mentioned, in addition to that "the unacceptable insult to French farmers and butchers" that this decision represented. 

In addition to the unacceptable insult to French farmers and butchers, it is clear that the moralist and elitist policy of the "Greens" excludes the popular classes.

Many children often only have the canteen to eat meat ... Scandalous ideology.

https://t.co/gFGf0JWZKn

- Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) February 20, 2021

It was after the position taken by her colleagues that the Minister of Ecological Transition Barbara Pompili promoted meatless meals within the framework of the Climate and Resilience Act during a trip to Charente.

On the sidelines of this, she deplored the return to a "prehistoric debate".

Squash soup


Spaghetti with lentils, carrots and tomatoes


Goat cheese


Pears



A balanced and delicious vegetarian menu for the children of St-Denis-d'Oléron.

The # ClimatResilience law will experiment with a daily vegetarian choice in canteens.

pic.twitter.com/t4tnwFG659

- Barbara Pompili (@barbarapompili) February 22, 2021

.... which extends within the majority

What to attract the wrath of Julien Denormandie who reaffirmed on RTL that the choice of Grégory Doucet was a shame, while contesting any cacophony in the government.

Except that the controversy is no longer limited to it and also affects some members of the majority.

Jean Baptiste Moreau, spokesperson for En Marche and farmer, attacked the minister directly, whom he accuses of lacking loyalty.

Nutrients essential for the growth of children are present in meat.

In addition, the pb is to impose dogmatically.

But @barbarapompili, pragmatism like love of science and loyalty are concepts foreign to you.

https://t.co/Eo0AOUYLN6

- Jean Baptiste Moreau (@ moreaujb23) February 22, 2021

Hugues Renson, vice-president of the Assembly, responded strongly on Twitter, coming to the rescue of Barbara Pompili.

He believes that "French meat is better than the sterile controversies of an En Marche spokesperson who seemed less vehement with Gérard Collomb when the latter had taken the same measure".

Not enough, therefore to ease the tensions.

French meat is better than the sterile controversies of a spokesperson @enmarchefr who seemed less vehement with Gérard Collomb when the latter had taken the same measure ...



Dogmatism is to consider that a woman is disloyal when she defends his convictions

- Hugues Renson (@huguesrenson) February 22, 2021

"Parliamentarians are nonsense, they hit each other" loose a member of the government, annoyed.

"We succumbed to a provocative gesture by the green mayor of Lyon" laments a member of the majority.

And some are worried about tensions which herald heated debates during the examination of the climate law in the assembly in early March.

It is clear in any case that the instruction of Jean Castex, "the less we feed self-propelled controversies, the better we are" does not seem to have been well understood.