The Newspaper Research.

French strikes: dinner ladies lead the fight for pension cuts..

× President Sarkozy is planning to raise the pension age from 60 to 62 and the age to retire with a full pension from 65 to 67.

× The majority of French dinner ladies are aged between 35 and 50 and are single mothers, struggling on small wages. They earn 1,200 euros a month.

× Sarkozy has made small concessions to women allowing those born in the early 1950s who brought up three or more children to collect full pension at 65.

× The Dinner ladies have been taking to the streets in protest, they vow to keep up the blockade of school canteen until the government withdraws its whole pension reform.

×

French Lunch	American Lunch
Iceberg lettuce with radishes and vinaigrette Grilled fish with lemon Stewed carrots Emmental cheese Apple tart	Zweigel'sâ„¢ hot dog on a roll with tater tots
White cabbage salad [remoulade] Sauted chicken with mustard Shell pasta coulommiers [soft cheese] Apple compote	Tysonâ„¢ chicken fingers with rice and gravy
liver paté and a cornichon hamburger peas and carrots mimolette [Edam-like cheese] fruit	Double cheeseburger with Fritos™ chips
Cucumber salad with herbs Spiced sausage Lentils Saint nectaire [cheese] floating island [meringue served on custard]	Mozzarella stixs [sic] with tomato sauce and garlic pasta noodles
potato salad filet of fish with creamed celery sauteed lima beans yogurt fruit	Stuffed crust cheese and pepperoni pizza

× French school food is seen as part of there education, where as American school food is an easy alternative to good food, that has to abide by slack nutritional rules and guidelines.

× The Uniform worn by the French dinner ladies are white overalls, slip on plastic shoes, in nurseries they wear pink overalls.

× The UNSA, national association of the autonomous unions. Represent the diner ladies.

× Sarkozys bill was passed by a vote of 336 to 223.

 1.  Food included in the groups set out in Schedule 1 must be provided as part of a school lunch in accordance with the following requirements of this Schedule.

2.—(1) Not less than two portions each day must be provided of food from group A, at least one of which must be salad, vegetables or vegetable juice and at least one of which must be fruit, fruit salad or fruit juice.

(2) A fruit based dessert (with a content of at least 50% fruit measured by the weight of the raw ingredients) must be provided at least twice each week in primary schools.

3.—(1) A portion of food from group B must be provided every day except a day when a food from group C is provided as permitted by paragraph 4.

(2) Red meat must be provided at least twice each week in primary schools, and at least three times each week in secondary schools; except that a day when a food from group C which contains red meat is provided may count towards this total.

(3) Fish must be provided at least once each week in primary schools and at least twice each week in secondary schools.

(4) Fish required to be provided by sub-paragraph (3) must at least once every three weeks be oily fish.

(5) In primary schools a dairy source of protein may be provided in place of a food from group B.

4.—(1) A portion of food from each of the subdivisions in group C may not be provided more often than once every two weeks.

(2) Any shaped product comprising a mixture of meat and other ingredients which is not included in the reserved descriptions specified in Schedule 2 to the Meat Products Regulations may only be provided if it complies with the meat content requirements for “Burger” in that Schedule.

(3) No meat product shall be provided if it contains any carcase part listed in regulation 6(2) of the Meat Products Regulations, subject to the exception in regulation 6(3) of those Regulations.

(4) No economy burgers as defined in Schedule 2 to the Meat Products Regulations shall be provided.

5.—(1) A type of bread with no added fat or oil and another food from group D must be provided every day.

(2) A food in group D cooked in fat or oil must not be provided on more than three days in a week.

(3) On each day when a food in group D cooked in fat or oil is provided, a food from that group (other than bread) not so cooked must also be provided.

6.  A portion of food from group E must be provided every day.

7.  No drinks other than those included in group F may be provided, except that whole milk may be provided for pupils up to the end of the school year in which they attain the age of five.

8.  No more than two portions each week may consist of food which has been deep-fried in the cooking or manufacturing process.

9.  No confectionery or snacks may be provided except snacks which consist of —

(a)nuts, seeds, fruit or vegetables with no added salt, sugar, honey or fat (except that dried fruit may contain no more than 0.5% vegetable oil as a glazing agent); or

(b)savoury crackers or bread sticks which are served with food from group A or group E.

10.  Cakes or biscuits must not contain any confectionery.

11.—(1) No salt shall be available to add to food after the cooking process is complete.

(2) Other condiments may be available to pupils only in individual sachets or in individual portions of no more than 10 grams or one teaspoonful.

Food Group	Foods included in group
A. Fruit and vegetables	Fruit and vegetables of all types, whether fresh, frozen or dried. Fruit canned in water or juice. Vegetables canned in water or juice. Fruit salad, fresh or canned in water or juice. Fruit juice and vegetable juice.
B. Meat, fish and other non dairy sources of protein	Meat and fish (in each case whether fresh, frozen, canned or dried), eggs, nuts, pulses and beans, other than green beans. Ham and bacon. Other non-dairy sources of protein. Any food containing meat together with food from groups A, D or E, but excluding any meat product falling within group C.
C. Meat products (sub-divided as shown)	Any meat product falling within Schedule 2 to the Meat Products Regulations, and any other shaped or coated meat product. C1: Burger, hamburger, chopped meat, corned meat. C2: Sausage, sausage meat, link, chipolata, luncheon meat. C3: Individual meat pie, meat pudding, Melton Mowbray pie, game pie, Scottish (or Scotch) pie, pasty or pastie, bridie, sausage roll. C4: Any other shaped or coated meat product.
D. Starchy foods	All types of bread, pasta, noodles, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, millet and cornmeal.
E. Milk and dairy foods	Milk (skimmed, semi-skimmed or lactose-reduced), cheese, yoghurt (including frozen), fromage frais and custard; but not butter or cream.
F. Drinks (sub-divided as shown)	F1: Plain drinks: Plain water (still or carbonated). Milk (skimmed, semi-skimmed or lactose-reduced). Fruit juice or vegetable juice. Plain soya, rice or oat drinks enriched with calcium. Plain fermented milk drinks. F2: Combination drinks: Combinations of fruit juice or vegetable juice with— (a) plain water, in which case the fruit juice or vegetable juice must be at least 50% by volume and may contain vitamins and minerals; (b) milk (skimmed, semi-skimmed or lactose-reduced) or plain fermented milk drinks (in each case with or without plain water) in which case the milk or fermented milk drink must be at least 50% by volume and may contain vitamins, minerals and less than 5% added sugars or honey; (c) plain soya, rice or oat drink (in each case with or without plain water) in which case the soya, rice or oat drink must be at least 50% by volume and may contain vitamins, minerals and less than 5% added sugars or honey. Combinations of milk (skimmed, semi-skimmed or lactose-reduced), plain fermented milk drinks or plain soya, rice or oat drinks (in each case with or without plain water) with cocoa, in which case the milk, fermented milk drink, soya, rice or oat drink must be at least 50% by volume and may contain vitamins, minerals and less than 5% added sugars or honey. Flavoured milk (skimmed, semi-skimmed or lactose-reduced) containing not less than 90% milk by volume and which may contain vitamins, minerals and less than 5% added sugars or honey. Tea, coffee. Hot chocolate containing no more than 20 calories per 100 millilitres.

× With the rise in the retirement age the dinner ladies have expressed concern that there will be more at work injuries, which is one of there main points against the rise.

× Some of the potential health problems include back injuries from heavy lifting, breathing problems from ingredients. Also depression will become increasingly common.

× The main political parties in France:

1.    The Socialist Party lead by Sarkozy

2.    French Communist Party lead by Pierre Laurent

3.    Union For a Popular Movement lead by Xavier Bertrand

4.    Rally For The Republic lead by Michele alliot-Marie.

 × With about 18 months before the next election, Sarkozys popularity has slipped to an all time low, with 30 percent of French adults supporting him.

× The majority of the industries in France have also been on strike with 90 percent of service stations shut at one point, as strikes occurred at 12 refineries.

× The French Civil Aviation Authority have scrubbed 50 percent of fights from Paris.

×Pension

×Tata’s

×Sarkozy

×France

×Reform

×Depression

×Retirement

×Dinner ladies

×Canteen

×Euros

×Protest

×Burgers

×Cheese

×Red meat

×FCP

×UMP

×SP

×RTRL

×Education

×Revolt

× “the dinner ladies are becoming the symbol of French women’s rebellion against the retirement reforms” Angelique Chrisafis.

× “if we are forced to work until we are 67 you’re going to see a lot more accidents in the work place”

× “there are cases of depression, because there’s more and more work for fewer staff and we’re under a strict hierarchy”.

× “You get home at night and you don’t want to cook, you don’t want to clear up, you’re shattered”

× “Most are on duty from 6.30am for nine hours a day, with a 30 minute break when they must stay on site”

× “we explained that their children’s future safety was at stake”

× “I am losing pay as the strike days tick by”

× “ I get goose bumps when I’m standing in the a crowd of demonstrators with so many people supporting us. There is no way we will give up”

× “we will keep going till the end”

× “the French are lazy, they have one of the lowest retirement ages in Europe”

× “The real reasons for Sarko's obsessive destruction of the state pension system are completely prosaic”

× “Sarkozy has stuck his neck out on a guillotine”

× “Sarkozy needs to come up with certain acceptations to not receiving full pensions until 65/67”

× “ The American school dinners need to be urgently reviewed”

× “ We need to get our pensions before we are to arthritic to enjoy them”

× “ There are around one million of us against the reform”

× “ Sarkozy needs to listen the street smell like zoos”

× “ I am pissed off as i haven’t been able to get home for 3 days”

× “ There are actually very few union workers involved in the protests, in Paris. They all seem to be students puffing on cigarettes and listening to music”