it is neither a “boycott”, nor a “ban”, assures the mayor Grégory Doucet

He wants to put an end to the controversy. The mayor EELV of Lyon, Grégory Doucet, ensures in a column published in Le Journal du dimanche (subscribers article), on December 12, that his decision to ban foie gras from municipal receptions was “neither a call for a boycott, nor a ban”.

The city councilor says “measure and share what this holiday season represents for producers, restaurateurs and residents”, ensuring that“no reproach is made to the composition of the menus of the ones like the others”. “A good table requires good products. Their total freedom is not open to debate”, corn “the question of public procurement should not be confused with that of festive meals, in the home as in the restaurant”, he insists.

This decision, which went almost unnoticed in September 2020, caused a stir this week after being greeted by the animal rights organization Peta after an investigation into the policy of town halls vis-à-vis this specialty. traditional gastronomic.

And when the town hall specified, Monday, to the monthly Lyon Capital that she would like “broaden the dialogue around these questions, so that his initiative can be followed in restaurants”, many producers and chefs saw it as a call for a boycott.

In addition to Lyon, the ecological town halls of Strasbourg – since July 2020 – and Grenoble – since 2014 – have also banned foie gras from their ceremonies and events. The socialist mayor of Villeurbanne, near Lyon, took a similar step in May 2021.