[WORLD NEWS ★]
FRENCH LAWMAKER PROPOSES VEGETARIAN OPTION FOR SCHOOL LUNCHES
(P1) France has been GRAPPLING with how to RECONCILE religious beliefs with SECULAR values when it comes to pork in school lunches. One lawmaker’s solution: vegetarian meals.
(P2) After BANNING Muslim headscarves in classrooms in 2004, France is now TACKLING what to put on the plates of OBSERVANT Muslim and Jewish schoolchildren, who by tradition don’t eat pork. The PROPOSAL by lawmaker Yves Jego to serve vegetarian meals as the MANDATORY OPTION for pork has AROUSED unusual interest in a country where meat is regarded as part of the GASTRONOMIC tradition.
(P3) The politician is winning a wave of support with his plan to introduce a bill next month that would IMPOSE vegetarian meals in addition to classic menus — helping young Muslims and Jews as well as vegetarians.
(P4) “Can we force a Catholic child to eat meat on Good Friday because nothing else is proposed, or a Jew or a Muslim to eat pork?” Jego asked in an online PETITION.
(P5) Jego launched the petition last week in reaction to an order by the conservative mayor of Chalon-sur-Saone, east of France, to remove pork substitutes from school menus. A court decision this month gave the GREEN LIGHT to Mayor Gilles Platret’s order — despite concerns that it could create DISCORD. France is home to both western Europe’s largest Muslim population, estimated at 5 million, and largest Jewish population.
(P6) Schools often offer pork substitutes, but there is no national rule. In 2008, Lyon became the first major city to IMPOSE an ALTERNATIVE meatless menu in schools. In recent months, several mayors of medium-sized towns have announced their intention to do the same.
(P7) Jego describes the vegetarian alternative as a “quite simple and fully secular solution” to end a “religious dispute” and “allow those who don’t want meat or fish, for whatever reason, to eat a balanced diet.” The proposal has received support from some left- and right-wing politicians as well as environmentalist and vegetarian organizations.
(P8) However, Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll — also spokesman for the Socialist government — has criticized the idea as harmful to French LIVESTOCK farmers. The government has faced major farmer protests in recent weeks over low pork prices.
(P9) “Supporting French livestock with vegetarian menus: that’s Yves Jego’s program! Let’s be consistent,” Le Foll said in a tweet.
(P10) French authorities have increasingly been AT PAINS to STRIKE A BALANCE between its strict separation of religion and state, laid out in a 1905 law guaranteeing secularism, and its need to come to terms with increasingly vocal minorities in a multicultural society. In addition, the French consider their public schools as a key VEHICLE for TRANSMITTING the nation’s values.
(P11) A 2011 government order specifies that school menus must be composed of meat, fish or eggs to “ensure sufficient iron and mineral nutrients intakes” — but makes no mention of a meatless option.
WORDS: 473
SOURCE: http://news.yahoo.com/french-lawmaker-wants-mandatory-vegetarian-menu-school-113254703.html
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
If you found the passage difficult to read or had problems understanding specific words or idiomatic expressions, please discuss them with your tutor. The following discussion questions should be answered in your own words and with your own arguments.
- Briefly summarize the content of the article in your own words.
- Many religious traditions impose at least some restrictions on eating and drinking. Are any of these restrictions common in your country?
- Balancing the secular and the religious has been an increasing challenge in multicultural societies. Have there been any conflicts in your country about these issues?
- Are you a vegetarian, or have you ever considered becoming one?
- Vegetarianism is proposed for a variety of reasons: health, religion, MORALITY and ANIMAL RIGHTS, environmentalism (because raising animals for meat has worse environmental impacts than growing plants for food). Which reason makes the most sense to you?
EXPRESSIONS TO PRACTICE:
What do the following expressions mean? Practice using each expression in a sentence; extra points if you can use it in conversation.
- Green light
- At pains
- Strike a balance
- Animal rights
