Category Archives: france

Yummy French Kids School Lunches…this week in Paris!

Posted in france, French Kids School Lunch Project, kid's food, Schools by

This week we’re back in Paris, in the 13th arrondissement (one of the 20 neighbourhoods which make up the city of Paris, each with its own distinct character). Bordering the Seine, this formerly working class neighborhood now has a large immigrant population, notably from Asia, and is one of the poorest parts of Paris. Unlike other parts of the city, modern buildings and high-rises dominate here, and few tourists make their way here (except to visit France’s National Library — a controversial building looming over the riverbank, named in honor of former French President Mitterrand).

So it’s a good place to see how ‘ordinary’ Parisian kids eat. This is definitely not as fancy as some of the other menus I’ve posted (for example, pre-schoolers in Versailles eating Roast Guinea Fowl, grapefruit salad,and cabbage salad — all in the space of one week!), but is still very varied and healthy.

Monday, February 6th
Tomato and corn salad, organic bread
Pork sauté (or beef, veal, or chicken) with lentils
Camembert cheese
Dessert: an orange

Tuesday, February 7th
Country pork pate (or chicken pate), organic bread
Veal cutlet with green peas
Cheese: St Môret (think: tangy cream cheese, and you’d almost be there)
Dessert: a kiwi

Wednesday, February 8th
Vegetable soup (carrots, potatoes, onions, leeks), organic bread
Chicken sausage and green beans
Riz au lait (a traditional french dish, somewhat like rice pudding)
An apple

Thursday, February 9th
Endive and apple salad, organic bread
Meatballs with ‘sauce catalane’ (onions, green peppers, tomatoes, garlic) and rice
Yogurt
A banana

Friday, February 10th
Tabouleh (couscous, parsley, tomatoes, spices), organic bread
Fish meunière (a savoury sauce) with carrots & parsley
Cheese: Saint Paulin (a mild, semi-soft cheese often served to children)
Fruit compote (a little thicker than applesauce)

Sounds pretty great, doesn’t it?

Quite a few people have written asking about how this all works. For those interested in an explanation, read on! (Luckily, all of this information is posted on line by many French municipalities, so the figures below were all available at the school website: http://caissedesecolesparis13.fr/).

Like any other town in France, the Parisian government is responsible for providing food to all of its pre-schools and primary schools, as well as daycares and after-school care programs (high schools have their own cafeterias, run separately). But because Paris is so big, it delegates this to the arrondissements, which are a like mini-municipal departments; they manage public services in their area, but report to the Mayor of Paris.

In the 13th arrondissement, lunches are provided to children, teachers, and other staff by a staff of 320 (including 22 chefs) in 23 kitchens: 15 kitchens within (the bigger) schools, and 8 additional ‘central kitchens’ from which food is delivered to the smaller schools (which often have a smaller kitchen for finishing food preparation). These kitchens made 1.8 million meals for 12,000 students, staff, and teachers in 2009! (If this sounds alarmingly large-scale, remember that Paris is by far France’s biggest city! The LA Unified School District food service serves 553,000 students every day.)

As is the case all over France, there is only one menu, every day, for all children in all of the schools; the only exceptions are made for halal/kosher (substitutes are provided when pork is served), and for allergies. The French believe that children should eat what they are served, without complaining. In my observation, the meals are usually so tasty that this isn’t an issue.

The typical menu usually has 4 courses: salad starter with side of bread, main course (meat/fish or other protein, and vegetables), dairy (usually cheese or yogurt), and dessert. The specific dishes follow French Ministry of Education guidelines (e.g. ketchup and sweetened desserts are allowed only once per week; raw vegetables must be served three times per week). In fact, the standards set in the 13th arrondissement are higher: no fries are ever served, and ten percent of food served is organic (and all of the bread!).

As everywhere in Paris, families pay according to their income. The poorest families pay 17 cents (that’s per meal!) and the wealthiest pay just over $6.50 (5 Euros). The average price per meal paid by families is just under 4 dollars (3 Euros). Additional financial subsidies are available in some cases.

However, the total cost of providing each meal is 6 Euros (the other 3 Euros is paid out of the city of Paris general tax revenues). In other words, the cost of the meals is subsidized by the general taxpayer, and then cross-subsidized again between families with school-age children. The goal is to make meals affordable for everyone, and to allow everyone to eat the same high quality food at lunch — which, for the French, is the most important meal of the day (with 40% of daily caloric intake, on average).

The school lunch program is overseen by a committee made up of town councillors, representatives of the French national Ministry of Education, and about a dozen elected parents. The high degree of interest amongst parents isn’t unusual; when we lived in France, the most common thing I heard parents ask their children when picking them up from school was: ‘How did you enjoy your lunch today’? Menus are posted on the school doors (and, although this sounds rather Orwellian, the schools also send home suggestions of complementary dinner menus that parents could prepare in the evenings).

Now, I’d love to hear what you think. Does your school serve lunches like this? Could it? Would kids eat them?


This blog post is part of my French Kids School Lunch Project. Every week, I post the school lunch menus from a different village or town in France, where three-course, freshly-prepared hot lunches are provided to over 6 million children in the public school system every day. These meals cost, on average, $3 per child per day (and prices for low-income families are subsidised). My hope is that these menus (together with my other blog posts about the French approach to kid’s food) will spark a conversation about what children CAN eat, and how we can do better at educating them to eat a variety of healthy foods.

Should kids be allowed to randomly snack? The French would say definitely not! Here's why…

Posted in Food, france, kid's food by

I wrote this post to explain why I don’t allow my kids to randomly snack or graze throughout the day. They eat three meals a day, and one afternoon snack. If they say they are hungry, I tell them:
“That’s great, you’ll really appreciate your next meal. It’s in (X) hours.”
I know this might sound cruel! But read on for my explanation of why I think the ‘no snacking’ approach is positive — both for what children eat, and how they eat.

We’ve heard a lot lately about the dangers of snacking-and it is a hotly debated topic.

Some argue that regular snacking means that kids aren’t hungry enough to eat the nutritious foods served at mealtimes. Others argue that snacking has benefits (balancing out blood glucose levels, for example).

I only let my kids have one snack a day. But before we moved to France, I let my kids snack several times a day. Whenever they said they were hungry, they got a snack (except in that half hour before mealtimes, and even then I sometimes gave in). However, I learned some things during our year in France that convinced me to change our family’s snacking habits.

The first thing I learned is that most French kids don’t snack randomly at home. They just never think of doing it. Astounding but true. I’ve been going back and forth between France and Vancouver for 10 years, staying for long periods with extended family and friends, and I have never once seen a child open the fridge or cupboard and dig around for a snack, or demand a snack from their parents in between mealtimes. Not once. I kid you not.

The second thing I learned is that scheduling snacks is OK. If it’s a habit, and if everyone follows the same routine, it’s not a problem. French kids never complain about it, because it would never occur to them to eat at the ‘wrong’ time. Life goes on, and even without snacking their kids are just as well-behaved (or even more well-behaved) than ours. And they do just fine at school (even with much longer school days).

There is one exception to the snacking rule, which is called the goûter. French kids DO eat after school. But it’s a mini-meal rather than a snack, eaten sitting at the table, with real foods - like bread and butter, fruit, yogurt. Then, French kids don’t eat anything until the evening meal at 7:30 or 8 pm. No bedtime snack.

The result? You guessed it: French kids eat much better at mealtimes, because they feel hungry. And the foods at meals tend to be more nutritious. So their diets are healthier.

My kids (one in primary school, one in preschool) follow the French approach on weekends. It works really well for us. They are used to the pattern, eat well at mealtimes, and I don’t have to worry about spoiling their dinner by giving them a snack. It was definitely a big adjustment at first. But the French have a lot of routines and great tips they use for teaching kids how to eat. (When we applied them, the results were so successful, and I was so inspired…that I wrote a whole book about it (French Kids Eat Everything), which will be published in April with HarperCollins!)

The French approach at school is also interesting. French kids can’t snack at school, even if they wanted to. They are not allowed to bring food from home, and there are no vending machines (they’re completely banned in all schools). Most French kids don’t even want to snack, because the lunchtime meal they’re offered is so tasty. As the menus on my French Kids School Lunch Project blog suggest, French kids’ school lunches are tasty, nutritious, and highly filling. They eat a lot of foods high on the ‘satiety index’ at lunch, because the expectation is that lunch is the biggest meal of the day.

No snacks!? This might seem shocking to some parents. In some American schools, snacks are served to all children (on the theory that they need good nutrition, so that hunger doesn’t interfere with learning — which is true, particularly for lower-income kids, but perhaps not necessarily needed for all children).

Not snacking is also a difficult concept if you don’t like the idea of your child being hungry. What if my child is hungry? I used to think. Should you really deny you child a snack, even if they say they’re hungry? That’s controversial, to say the least.

Here’s the French view: there is a difference between feeling hungry and being hungry. No one wants a child to BE hungry. But the French think it’s OK to FEEL hungry. What does that mean? It means being comfortable if your stomach is empty, and being able to wait until your next mealtime-even if you do feel hungry. Otherwise, the French believe, you create a culture of ‘unregulated eating’….with all of the health problems that arise from that. To prove their point, they might refer to the statistics which show that American children snack, on average, three times per day (and one in five snack up to five times per day). Although I didn’t agree with their view when we first moved to France, I’m now convinced. That’s why I no longer let my kids snack more than once per day.

No culture is perfect, and there are lots of things I wouldn’t want to adopt from France, but I do think the French have a good approach to snacking. What do you think?

Should kids be allowed to randomly snack? The French would say definitely not! Here’s why…

Posted in Food, france, kid's food by

We’ve heard a lot lately about the dangers of snacking-but is it really such a bad idea?

Some argue that regular snacking means that kids aren’t hungry enough to eat the nutritious foods served at mealtimes. Others argue that snacking has benefits (balancing out blood glucose levels, for example).

I only let my kids have one snack a day. But before we moved, I let my kids snack several times a day. Whenever they said they were hungry, they got a snack (except in that half hour before mealtimes, and even then I sometimes gave in). However, I learned some things during our year in France that convinced me to change our family’s snacking habits.

The first thing I learned is that French kids don’t snack randomly at home. They just never think of doing it. Astounding but true. I’ve been going back and forth between France and Vancouver for 10 years, staying for long periods with extended family and friends, and I have never once seen a child open the fridge or cupboard and dig around for a snack, or demand a snack from their parents in between mealtimes. Not once. I kid you not.

The second thing I learned is that banning snacks is OK. If it’s a habit, and if everyone follows the same routine, it’s not a problem. French kids never complain about it, because it would never occur to them to eat at the ‘wrong’ time. Life goes on, and even without snacking their kids are just as well-behaved (or even more well-behaved) than ours. And they do just fine at school (even with much longer school days).

There is one exception to the snacking rule, which is called the goûter. French kids DO eat after school. But it’s a mini-meal rather than a snack, eaten sitting at the table, with real foods - like bread and butter, fruit, yogurt. Then, French kids don’t eat anything until the evening meal at 7:30 or 8 pm. No bedtime snack.

The result? You guessed it: French kids eat much better at mealtimes, because they feel hungry. And the foods at meals tend to be more nutritious. So their diets are healthier.

My kids (4 and 8) follow the French approach on weekends. It works really well for us. They are used to the pattern, eat well at mealtimes, and I don’t have to worry about spoiling their dinner by giving them a snack. It was definitely a big adjustment at first. But the French have a lot of routines and great tips they use for teaching kids how to eat. (When we applied them, the results were so successful, and I was so inspired…that I wrote a whole book about it (French Kids Eat Everything), which will be published in April with HarperCollins!)

The French approach at school is also interesting. French kids can’t snack at school, even if they wanted to. They are not allowed to bring food from home, and there are no vending machines (they’re completely banned in all schools). Most French kids don’t even want to snack, because the lunchtime meal they’re offered is so tasty. As the menus on my French Kids School Lunch Project blog suggest, French kids’ school lunches are tasty, nutritious, and highly filling. They eat a lot of foods high on the ‘satiety index’ at lunch, because the expectation is that lunch is the biggest meal of the day.

No snacks!? This might seem shocking to North American parents. What if my child is hungry? I used to think. Should you really deny you child a snack, even if they say they’re hungry? That’s so controversial, to say the least.

Here’s my view, based on what I learned in France-but also based on commonsense. There is a difference between feeling hungry and being hungry. No one wants a child to BE hungry. But the French think it’s OK to FEEL hungry. What does that mean? It means being comfortable if your stomach is empty, and being able to wait until your next mealtime-even if you do feel hungry. Otherwise, the French believe, you create a culture of ‘unregulated eating’….with all of the health problems that arise from that. And I think that we see the signs of this all around us here in North America.

No culture is perfect, and there are lots of things I wouldn’t want to adopt from France, but I do think they have some great ideas about how to feed children-ideas we could definitely learn from.

France's new tax on soda pop: Should we tax 'bad' foods?

Posted in Food, france, kid's food by

Earlier this week, the French government passed a new law introducing a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks which will apply to soft drinks (both sugar and diet) and sweetened juices. Public health campaigners are delighted. But the tax-a minimal 1 cent per container-has been criticized as ‘discriminatory’ by manufacturers, who have threatened to increase prices significantly (some newspaper articles talk of 20 to 30% rises) to offset lost profits.

France joins a number of other European countries (Denmark, Hungary) which have implemented so-called ‘sin taxes’ or ‘fat taxes’ over the past few years. Critics argue that the low levels of such taxes won’t deter necessarily consumption. But they will bring in a lot of revenue: an estimated $150 million for the French government-which will be welcome in the current economic climate.

In the US, the debate over ‘fat taxes’ heated up in the 1990s following a New York Times op-ed by Kelly D. Brownell (director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale). He argued that the lower cost of unhealthy food creates an incentive to consume it: more calories for your buck. Other food writers like Michael Pollan have gone further and argued that government subsidies (notably via the Farm Bill) keep the prices of unhealthy food artificially low. But proponents of ‘personal responsibility’, from Sarah Pailin to Rush Limbaugh, have argued against government meddling in food choices (and personal decisions of any kind).

The French see it differently. They feel that a healthy food system and healthy eating depend on both personal responsibility and on social responsibility-supported by government regulation as appropriate. In my opinion, and as I’ve blogged on my French Kids Lunch Project, this has resulted in better nutrition for children-both at home and in schools.

What do you think? Is taxing soda the right thing to do? Is better food a question of personal responsibility, or social responsibility, or both?

 

 

France’s new tax on soda pop: Should we tax ‘bad’ foods?

Posted in Food, france, kid's food by

Earlier this week, the French government passed a new law introducing a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks which will apply to soft drinks (both sugar and diet) and sweetened juices. Public health campaigners are delighted. But the tax-a minimal 1 cent per container-has been criticized as ‘discriminatory’ by manufacturers, who have threatened to increase prices significantly (some newspaper articles talk of 20 to 30% rises) to offset lost profits.

France joins a number of other European countries (Denmark, Hungary) which have implemented so-called ‘sin taxes’ or ‘fat taxes’ over the past few years. Critics argue that the low levels of such taxes won’t deter necessarily consumption. But they will bring in a lot of revenue: an estimated $150 million for the French government-which will be welcome in the current economic climate.

In the US, the debate over ‘fat taxes’ heated up in the 1990s following a New York Times op-ed by Kelly D. Brownell (director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale). He argued that the lower cost of unhealthy food creates an incentive to consume it: more calories for your buck. Other food writers like Michael Pollan have gone further and argued that government subsidies (notably via the Farm Bill) keep the prices of unhealthy food artificially low. But proponents of ‘personal responsibility’, from Sarah Pailin to Rush Limbaugh, have argued against government meddling in food choices (and personal decisions of any kind).

The French see it differently. They feel that a healthy food system and healthy eating depend on both personal responsibility and on social responsibility-supported by government regulation as appropriate. In my opinion, and as I’ve blogged on my French Kids Lunch Project, this has resulted in better nutrition for children-both at home and in schools.

What do you think? Is taxing soda the right thing to do? Is better food a question of personal responsibility, or social responsibility, or both?