Periodically we like to post a school menu so that you all know what you are missing. Here is the one on the Catholic school gatepost in Preuilly sur Claise for the last week of school in December 2023.
Here is the translation and explanations where necessary:
Monday
Soup or Lentils in vinaigrette salad
Vegetable tajine with couscous
Yoghurt
Fruit
Tuesday
Rice salad
Chicken escalope in cream
Buttered carrots
Cheese
Doughnuts (beignets is usually translated as doughnuts, but what was probably served would not have been deepfried rings of batter, but something more freeform like fritters)
Thursday
Pumpkin soup or mushrooms with fresh herbs
Spaghetti bolognese (or as listed, more like spag bog/bol)
Cheese
Peaches in syrup
So now you are no doubt wondering what the significance of EGALIM, VBF and FRANCE alongside some menu items are.
EGALIM stands for Etats Généraux de l'alimentation, which is the French National Food Conference. It means that this menu item or its ingredients have been purchased according to a law which ensures that producers get a fair price when they contract to directly supply a kitchen or retailer. Wholesalers must not be involved and the producer must be delivering a healthy sustainable foodstuff.
VBF stands for Viande Boeuf Francaise (French Beef Meat).
FRANCE means that the main ingredient has been produced in France.
Parents want to know this stuff and expect to see it on the school menu. The school also has a legal obligation to source a certain amount of its ingredients locally, or from organic producers, and it is also not allowed to waste any food. School meals are simple but prepared fresh on a daily basis. Parents pay a few euros per school meal unless they are a very low income household, in which case school meals are free.
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