“food totalitarianism”, the words of the municipal majority decried
New controversy. The start of the 2022-2023 school year has been eventful in Grenoble. And for good reason, the mayor Europe-Ecology-the-Greens (EELV) Eric Piolle has decided to offer default vegetarian menus to students. Parents have retained the option of choosing a meat-based menu for their children.
This measure has, in the process, caused many reactions, especially on the side of Toulouse. “In Grenoble, the Greens are in food totalitarianism. For many children, the canteen is the only balanced meal of the day!”, Declared the group “Aimer Toulouse”, which represents the municipal majority. The use of the term “totalitarianism” was quickly pinpointed by the elected EELV of Toulouse.
“Words Have Meaning”
“The choice of the word totalitarianism is shameful. The term totalitarianism is a word steeped in history, the meaning of which Hannah Arendt has detailed at length, and which should not be used in demagogic polemics”, challenges Helene Cabanesmunicipal councilor EELV.
According to the elected, the initiative of the town hall of Grenoble “goes in the right direction”. The co-spokesperson ofEELV ToulouseManuel Leick-Jonard, outbids:
This food transition is a crucial issue in the fight against global warming, the disappearance of resources and animal suffering”.
According to the Greens, Grenoble is initiating a necessary paradigm shift in view of the greenhouse gas emissions caused by livestock farming. Environmentalists also recall in a press release sent to The Independent Opinion that “the vegetarian meal will form the basic meal and no longer the meat meal.”
The elected representatives of the municipal majority have in turn stepped up to the plate, like Jean-Jacques Bolzan, deputy mayor. “I am opposed to this diktat where we impose a diet from a minority to a majority, to Toulousewe do just the opposite”, he explains in the columns of our colleagues from the Dispatch from the South.
The majority elected also specifies that Toulouse favors “short circuits and in particular meat from farms in the south-west of France but also […] organic products from […] d’Occitanie”. The start of the 2022-2023 school year continues to crystallize the debates.
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