Organic and local products in school canteens: Lyon’s ambition

From our special correspondent in the metropolis of Lyon,

Between two sound and light lessons, within the CinéFabrique, in the morning at 8 a.m., the students have “pluche” in the planning. Once a week, these young adults, learning at this public film school in the 9th arrondissement of Lyon, very close to Île Barbe, have to get up earlier to go to the canteen, where the chef awaits them in the kitchen. Sophie Imbert and her clerks.

That day, half a dozen students put on an apron and a cap. Fruits and vegetables are already rinsed. It is now up to them to peel them, cut them, before sharing a breakfast that they will therefore not skip. They clean their utensils on the way, while the chef’s team is already busy preparing the meal. They are free at 9 a.m., towards the modules, their studies. Other comrades take over the lunch service.

To participate is the culinary pact offered by this small establishment in the city of the Lumière brothers and Bocuse to its cinema apprentices. Perhaps confusing for some initially, but rewarding upon arrival. Especially since the products treated are intended to be as organic and local as possible. This task is precisely the responsibility of the cook, who sums up the approach that she has developed in recent years with passion:

When the school moved here, we realized that there was nothing around for lunch. Some students ate half a baguette as their only meal, or even freeze-dried pasta. We already knew long before that the student budget was often very low. So we wanted to provide them with a balanced and tasty meal, so that they would eat better at least once a day.

” They prefer fries »

On the program today: lasagna without meat, made with pumpkins and Swiss chard, with cheese and garlic. As a starter, salad of carrots, celery and white cabbage. For dessert, orange salad with cinnamon. All the selected products are from the area except the fruits, originating from Spain, but organic. ” Our citrus fruits sometimes come from Italy too. For the rest, everything comes from the mountains of Lyonnais, Brignais, the region “says Sophie.

” Sometimes, we keep orange zest to put in a chocolate cake or other “, adds the chef. But it also happens that the students try to influence him: one day there was celery, and they asked for a coleslaw for the trouble.

Anyway, we have a compost, which we empty every day. So we immediately see the dishes they like and those they don’t like, it’s radical! We also do satisfaction questionnaires, in general it’s not very surprising: they prefer fries and lasagna

” Not too much sugar »

The goal is not necessarily to lock oneself into a strict logic. But the “nurturing” idea remains not only to go to the most local, to the most labeled via existing networks, while also seeking to reconcile taste and a nutritionally balanced composition. Vitamins, cereals, vegetables cooked daily, then some proteins, in the form of legumes or animals, chicken, fish, eggs…” Not too much sugar, but still ! »

In the cold room: Ardèche kiwis. ” There is always a period in winter when it is difficult to escape pumpkin and leeks. We are impatiently awaiting summer, especially since in organic, sometimes, it comes later than in the conventional sector. On the other hand, the tomatoes last until the beginning of November marvels Sophie, whose personal touch is to be found in Japanese gastronomy.

” For the future, I think we need to eat less meat, she pleads. As a result, it’s all the more important to do it in the context of a canteen, to be able to have the chance to explain to young people why we are doing this. And show them, by offering them vegetarian meals or meals with little meat, that we can eat very well and tastefully. »

Lyon, green city

In terms of school or student catering, the CinéFabrique is exemplary. But it is a very small structure, which makes it particularly flexible. And its participants are adults.

In this metropolis of European dimension that is Lyon, it is the responsibility of the various levels of local authorities to also feed tens of thousands of mouths of minors of all ages every day – from kindergarten to secondary school through to the baccalaureate. It’s a different story.

Every day, between 26,000 and 29,000 meals must thus be provided for the pupils of the crèches and primary schools of the city alone. city ​​of lyon, for example. And in the neighboring town of Villeurbanne, where a few hygienist principles have been firmly anchored for a long time, there are still 8,000 covers that must be provided daily, with the imperative of avoiding waste, which is not easy these this time.

These two towns each have a central kitchen. As far as the crèches and the primary school are concerned, the competence of the canteens falls to the town halls, to the elected representatives of the Municipal Councils. The metropolis is home to 59 municipalities, the largest of which is Lyon, passed like other cities massively among ecologists at the last municipal elections, in 2020, in the midst of Covid. The latter arrived with their own conceptions of school feeding, they are expected on the subject.

The case of the neighbor

Villeurbanne, for its part, was equipped in 2010 with a new central kitchen which was intended to be exemplary and which remains managed directly by teams from the town hall, unlike that of Lyon. It is built according to notions of sustainable development, with beehives on the roof, green facades and composting. It is already striving to favor fresh, organic products and short circuits. The trucks that transport the dishes to the four corners of the town run on gas.

Alexandre Fargeton, operations manager, gives a guided tour of the site, and discusses the requirements relating to the law Egalim. Currently, the canteen processes about 30% of labeled products, including organic, but from this year, these products will have to represent 50% of the allocated budget. Before the abolition, in 2025, of plastics, another issue which should lead the town hall to invest quickly.

RFI in Lyon: interview

Within the current municipal majority of Lyon, it is Gautier Chapuis, from the new generation, who is in charge of reflection on the canteens. Elected in the 9th century, he is delegated councilor for local food and food security. The team he represents intends to massively favor organic and local products. But it inherits a system that needs to be rethought, explains Mr. Chapuis in an interview with RFI available below.

The Lyon plant, located in the town of Rillieux-la-Pape, operates by delegation according to the principle of cold link: the dishes are prepared, then cooled on site, before being shipped at controlled temperature, in a refrigerated truck, in schools. Then to be warmed up in these schools to be served there.

We are in a contract with a company that prepares meals. We have specifications that govern this activity, with a whole series of criteria. If we write them well, they allow us to set ourselves objectives, in particular in organic or local, and to restructure certain sectors on the territory.

Objective: to reach a level of at least 75% of products from organic farming, with eventually 100% in the sectors where this will be possible. But the reflection goes much further, as explained by the local elected official.

►Gautier Chapuis : the town hall of Lyon “ seeks to build a more enlightened society »