Unlike deputies, senators believe they need a little more time before validating vegetarian menus in school canteens. On this file, the Senate, with a right – wing majority, on Tuesday evening favored the continuation of the experiment rather than a perpetuation of the measure, wanted by the National Assembly within the framework of the climate bill.
The debate should however continue during the parliamentary shuttle. The National Assembly will have the last word in the event of a persistent disagreement between the two chambers.
The Senate advocates the freedom of local communities
As part of the Egalim law of 2018, an experiment was launched in November 2019 to offer students a vegetarian menu of their choice once a week. In mid-April, the National Assembly voted at first reading to generalize this device, always once a week. But, more reserved, in particular in the name of the freedom of the local communities which manage the school canteens and their providers, the Senate preferred to extend the experiment by two years.
The rapporteur Anne-Catherine Loisier (centrist) felt on Tuesday that it was necessary to wait for a more complete and quantified assessment. She referred to certain “dysfunctions” reported by local elected officials, also faced with “18 months of Covid period”. “Do not legislate on everything, nor on the content of the menu, nor on the diameter of the plate, nor on the length of the fork,” added LR Christian Klinger, calling for “trusting local players”.
Chili sin carne and vegetarian couscous
Several left-wing senators and environmentalists protested against a “retreat” from the initial text and pushed to go beyond. Breton ecologist Joël Labbé called for “eating less meat” and “creating outlets for our legumes”. Communist Fabien Gay, for his part, defended a “balance” between “demand for vegetarians” and “hunger crisis” in “popular towns”, supporting “quality” meat.
On the government bench, the Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie pleaded in vain to return to the text voted by the National Assembly. He defended the “choice” in the canteens and the “quality” of the local meat, while “more than 60% of the meat consumed in our canteens today is imported meat”. The National Council of Collective Catering has tested several vegetarian recipes, seven of which are “really appreciated by children”, for her part assured the deputy LREM Célia de Lavergne during the debates in the Assembly, such as vegetarian lasagna, “chili sin carne ”or vegetarian couscous.