Pork or nothing: how school dinners are dividing France

[MADem]

56. You'll have to take it up with the schools that are doing this.

They don't regard their decision as wrong or mean. They believe--if I am to understand the article correctly--that conformity in the consumption of this particular meat creates a cohesive attitude; it makes them "more French."

You can argue that this point is stupid, sure, but the French are very protective of their culture, to the point where they have government agencies that decide which words can be used.

Again, no one is going hungry. That's hyperbole. Look at the picture--there's more than enough food on that tray even without the meat. And forewarned is forearmed--a mother of a Muslim, Jewish or 'vegan' child can send along a jar of peanut butter on pork days, and the kid can just slap some of that on that bread, if they feel their child isn't getting enough food.

The alternative is for the parents to protest, but again, for those schools that are going "hard line" on this, that's probably not going to do any good. They are hammering home a CULTURAL point. This is no different than outlawing face-shielding veils. I would imagine they regard this as a "When in Rome..." type of thing--if you want your child educated in a French school, they will have the full "French" experience; the French cannot enjoy a nice wine with their meal in Saudi Arabia, either--because those are the "food rules" in that nation.

Americans do tend to be shocked when a country/culture doesn't bend over backwards to accommodate differences. This is because homogeneous cultures don't feel a need to do this--they do the "majority rules" routine, and expect the minorities to do whatever work-arounds they need to do on their own.