I find it interesting that a meatless meal one day per week will be obligatory in Schools from 1st November 2019. (2 year trial period)
OH and have already cut down our meat intake. We eat less, but possibly better quality than previously.
I think this is a great idea. It shows (well, we can hope) children that a meal can be tasty without meat.
Like you - and like most of Europe I suspect - we eat less meat, deliberately. For me, when possible (ie when Iâm buying it), we eat only organic animal products, from meat to cheese, but thatâs more from an animal welfare point of view. Iâd like to be vegetarian (OH is less keen ;)) but at the moment itâs a journey.
Sorry, this makes me scream! To me thereâs a huge issue in french schools about not providing suitable meals for muslims and jewish children. And once a week! Why not a daily choice of non-meat meals? I had that at school in the 60âs!
As far as I know, religion has no bearing on school life. 
Our village school provides a 3 or 4 course meal every day and kids can (and do) choose what they want to eat from that lotâŠ
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Precisely. So in certain areas of france (particularly of a right wing and anti-immigrant nature) the local authorities refuse to provide meals that muslim and jewish children can eat. Which makes a massive issue of it, rather than just gently making school food that is acceptable to all. Why is it against all the values of the republique to provide kids with vegetarian meals rather than pork?
Jane, I know nothing of right-wing and anti-immigration etcâŠ
I can only speak for our village school canteen since I have listened in at some of their catering meetings. I know that the canteen will normally serve pork as a meat once a week and they endeavour not to duplicate during the week. No child is forced to eat anything and they never go hungry.
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I donât get the impression that you live in an area with a high proportion of muslim or jewish children, so perhaps you are not aware. But this is an issue that has been widely reported over the last few years and is hugely controversial.
Apart from the locals, we have some refugee children who spend time with us. They normally stay around 6 months. I have no idea what religion any of our children follow (if any) since that is never discussed.
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I think itâs a good idea Stella or at least a start as itâs just so easy to provide tasty meals without meatâŠ
Of course Iâm speaking as a vegetarian who has never eaten any sort of offal or game and who hasnât eaten beef for many yearsâŠ
It feels like something has changed locallyâŠfor the first two years I was here I heard mother cows crying for their calvesâŠI found it really distressingâŠthis year Iâve seen young calves on the fields still close to their mothersâŠ
I still eat fish rarely and eggs which I try to ensure are free rangeâŠI dont drink milk but Cheese is still one of my downfallsâŠ
I think we all do the best we can with the information we have at hand and within our own âcomfort zonesââŠ
As my Border Collies are raw fed then Iâm constantly presented with an ethical dilemmaâŠI donât eat meat but they do and then itâs a case of trying to balance all âanimal welfareâ within my own boundaries of whatâs acceptable to me and what isnâtâŠx 
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As you say, Helen, it is a start. Iâm wondering what new ideas the catering staff will come up with. 
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You would think it would be quite simple reallyâŠ??? My mom is vegetarian too and I do her Tesco shop every week for her for home deliveryâŠ
Amongst many medical problems she has insulin dependent diabetes so must eat regularlyâŠ
She has macaroni cheeseâŠcauliflower cheeseâŠjacket potatoesâŠmushroom stroganoff and riceâŠcerealsâŠfresh fruitâŠfresh vegâŠrice puddingâŠvegetarian soupâŠ
It wouldnât seem that difficult or costly to provide vegetarian alternatives every day of the weekâŠ???
Some of the above might be considered a âside dishâ but for children who would rather not eat meat then the above are all quite nutritious in their own rightâŠ
One of my daughters who is mostly vegetarian but who doesnât try to influence her 3 kids either way has one sonâŠher eldestâŠwho just doesnât want to eat meatâŠheâs 7 and he asks her about the animalsâŠshe doesnât lie to himâŠ
Need to remember that French cuisine/tastes are somewhat different to UK. Our catering lady will doubtless conjure up something amazing from lentils and beetroot etc⊠
We did have one fascinating event organised by the Community of Communes. A wide selection of delicious looking stuff was presented to us (Joe Public). Only after tasting were we told what all the dishes/offerings were made from⊠quite an interesting experiment.
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LolâŠwhilst I admit that I wouldnât necessarily presume that lentils and beetroot would make for delicious culinary companions I nevertheless remain intriguedâŠ
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Starch and more starch. I donât see those as being good for anyone and none of those are things I eat or that French teenagers will eat at the cantine.
We have a whole load of different cruditĂ©s and charcuterie as an entrĂ©e and soup is always on offer. The plat is meat or fish cooked with an accompanying vegetable. Green salad with the cheese course, then pudding or fruit to finish. People take what they want, they donât have to have everything. We get through a huge quantity of salad and vegetables, local, fresh and varied. The meat is local too. Our cooks make everything from scratch, we are very lucky.
We are feeding teenagers some of whom wonât get another proper meal that day, they need more than stodge.
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@vero says "they need more stodgeâ and sheâs absolutely right. Nothing stodgy about VÄroniqueâs judgement IMO.
My favourite school dinner in the early 1940s was cheese pie. The cook always made two big tins of it. The ingredients were mashed potato and cheese. There was no brown or tomato sauce in those days. Just pie.
I used always be amongst the first to go forward when cook called âSeconds!â
At 81 I think that my still being big and strong and able to touch my toes is down to that cheese pie. And never putting sugar in my tea. 
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Your Canteen sounds on a par with ours, although our school is for younger kids. High quality, local products and a dedicated âchefâ, produces delicious meals - I can vouch for this as I sometimes get invited to taste the leftovers.
Lentils and beetroot are a great combination. If you think about it, beetroot is very similar to carrot and carrots and lentils are a classic dish.
OH is a non meat eater, and our meals are largely vegetable based. I thought that diabetics had to be careful about high calorie foods and saturated fats like cheese and stick to regular eating with lots of veg, fruit and grains.
You both seem to have enlightened schools. Our friends children struggle, and find that there is often a day when all they can eat is fruit.
Oh Jane, that does not seem right.
It is not rocket science to offer a varied selection every day, but it takes planning. Our folk organise menus in blocks of 2-weeks and endeavour not to repeat anything, although fruit/veg might reappear in a different form during a week.
They shop early Monday and Thursday as they do not use anything frozen (except icecream). (no school Wednesday).
This is an old article, but have attached as its in English. If you look you will find much more recent news in french news outlets.