From November 1st in French schools once a week the menu of the tables will be without meat or fish. An experiment that will last two years

One day a week, children and young people from French schools will be able to choose a vegetarian menu in the canteen, instead of the traditional one. It is an experiment that will begin on November 1st and will last two years at the urging of parents' and vegetarian associations, together with Greenpeace environmentalists. The motto is: “Even the time spent in the canteen is used to learn”.

Learn not to eat meat and fish, the supporters mean. Is this a suitable diet for a child?

Popotus asked Maria Elisabetta Clementi, doctor, specialist in food science in Rome: «There is nothing wrong with the French proposal, it doesn't mean becoming vegetarian at all costs. It's just a one-day-in-seven choice. A daily diet, however, must be kept under medical supervision, because parents risk making mistakes. Children are growing and need proteins of high biological value such as those of animal origin. Vegetarianism includes them, because it includes eggs, cheeses, milk, but the problem can be iron, which cannot be assimilated sufficiently from legumes. In a child, what counts is the growth of height and bones, and therefore the nutritional needs are different from those of adults who only have to maintain

the body structure." What if a child doesn't agree and wants to eat the meat? «Vegetarians are usually not rigid – replies Clementi – and mothers and fathers accept their child's choice. It is more common to find forms of intransigence in vegans, a type of parent that is often discussed, because a diet devoid of any food of animal origin is completely unsuitable for growing up.