France Inadvertently Bans Vegetarianism in School Cafeterias

New nutritional guidelines means animal products of some sort will be in every elementary school meal.

France, the birthplace of modern cuisine and a true innovator in the practice of banning things, passed a law earlier this month that laid out nutritional requirements for all public school lunches across the country. The six million or so schoolchildren in France will now get meals from school cafeterias that must contain animal products for the sake of reaching necessary nutritional requirements. Protein, iron, calcium, and fresh fruit are now mandated to be a part of every meal served at public schools, but how education officials interpreted the protein part of that equation means students will get either meat egg, or cheese products for lunch even if they're vegan or vegetarian. Students can opt out of the protein segment of their meal, but without a replacement, non-animal-derived protein, the kids won't be meeting those nationally mandated guidelines. Animal rights and vegetarian groups in France are up in arms (as groups in France tend to do) over the new rules, saying that they unfairly keep vegetarian students away from meals that should be accessible to all students.