French school meals

[AuxArmesCitoyens]

My kids went back this week (bog standard state primary, rural France). They were moaning about the canteen so I thought I'd check out the menu. Tomorrow they're having a melon starter, free range chicken tajine with raisins and organic couscous, a cheese course and apple and quince puree for dessert 🤯 sign me up please! Makes me feel better about giving them dippers for tea tonight, anyway.

Sounds delicious! My kids had cheese wraps and a breakaway.

Ds2 used to be given a slice of pizza and a baked potato in his UK primary school, followed by a chocolate chip cookie.

DS used to love his French school dinners. It was a huge disappointment for him when we came home and he didn't get starters! He's still a complete food snob.

What a shame they lock autistic children away. But yay at the happy NT children having delicious food.

What a way to kill a thread 😂

But it’s a yes from me for the cheese course 🐷🐷🐷

Happy to kill it @Prinnny. I expect if you had had a summer of how amazing France and French children are rammed down your throat by MN and you had an autistic child, you'd be pissed off too.

The MN veneration of the French is fucking weird and it peaked this summer.

Wow, well sorry about that 🤨🙄 anyway moving on...

Well I think it sounds brilliant and we have a lot to learn from French food culture.

I found this article interesting on the experiences of a UK family who lived there temporarily and some useful tips for back home
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/karen-le-billion-french-children-eat-anything

I went to school in France and loved the lunches. Everyone had to bring in their own cloth napkin every day which you had to roll up correctly.

Old (they probably weren’t but seemed to be at the time to me) village ladies were employed to be lunch attendants and encourage correct manners. Woe betide anyone that didn’t use their cutlery correctly or messed about.

There are certainly things wrong with French schools but food isn’t one of them.

So the French government should not have put a huge effort into ensuring school children have a healthy, fresh balanced meal at a low cost to those on lowest incomes because some children are autistic.

There are issues with SEN in France but I don’t think that’s a reason to but improve the health of other children. The effort they put into sorting school meals is pretty admirable and the U.K. could take a few lessons from it.

I have an autistic child so would not holiday in or move to France, but I can still be impressed by their school lunches.

What were your children complaining about?

It seems a common theme in the UK that the menu sounds nicer than the reality...

So the point of the thread is yay how brilliant things are in France?

The OP is entitled to think one aspect of a school or an education system is good and not others. 'French school food is good' does not mean 'I endorse all French educational policies'. The meals sound amazing, OP!

It’s a perfectly valid topic for a thread IMO. I find our (lack of) food culture in the U.K. compared to many of our European neighbours very depressing, and school lunches here are often shockingly poor quality and potentially storing up future health problems for the children who eat them every day, neurotypical or not. Just last week there was an item in the news about high levels of nitrates in school food: https://amp.theguardian.com/education/2023/sep/02/thousands-of-schools-serving-meals-that-could-contain-cancer-causing-chemicals. Ridiculously short lunchtimes in many schools are also contributing to the problem, with many pupils barely eating at all.

I think it’s great that the French (and other European nations) are willing to invest more money and effort in feeding the younger generation, and are prudent in recognising the importance of diet to children’s physical and cognitive development and future health.

What do you mean though? I’ve never seen anything about France and autistics on mumsnet? Or anywhere else actually…

Tuesday's veggie lasagne was not to their taste apparently.

Fwiw on SEN it is by no means perfect but it's getting better. Our previous state school had specialist provision for pupils with autism and disabilities such as Downs syndrome, with the kids joining mainstream classes wherever possible.

Oh fgs, the thread isnt about you @Clymene , if you are upset start your own thread

From the title I gather that the point of the thread is... school meals in France

HTH

I worked in a French school and the school meals were amazing and restaurant quality. The staff had wine at lunchtime too!

I bet there isn't a daily vegetarian option?!

What's with the French and their love of apple purée?

But it's far, far better than UK state school options

Yep there are two menus, one veggie. The main menu has two veggie days a week.

What's with the French and their love of apple purée?

Ime it's the Dutch too. Used to stay with a Dutch friend and their family who served apple puree with savoury meals as a vegetable, not the tablespoon or so by the side of roast pork as we do.

Germany too - Apfelmus with potato cakes. Yuck.