Brussels – Europe and the Arabs

Parents of children in primary and pre-primary schools in the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium have received notices from school administrations stating that young students will no longer be permitted to eat French fries during school hours. French fries are a highly popular food among both children and adults, particularly in Belgium and the Netherlands. According to a report by the Belgian newspaper *Gazet van Antwerpen*, the government of Flanders—the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium bordering the Netherlands—has issued a new set of recommendations regarding school nutrition. Under the most ambitious scenario, children would be prohibited from consuming French fries or apple juice at school. Furthermore, 9 out of every 20 meals must be vegetarian, and fresh fruit must be served as a dessert on 14 out of every 20 days. Biscuits and cookies will be entirely excluded from the list of permitted desserts.

These new guidelines were developed on behalf of the Department of Environment and the Agency for Agriculture and Fisheries. In addition to the recommendations for schools, the authorities have also published guidelines for corporate canteens and care institutions. These specifications are part of a "Green Deal" initiative aimed at shifting the sources of protein in our diets. The initiative seeks to invert the ratio of animal-based to plant-based proteins by 2030—moving from 60% animal and 40% plant-based to 40% animal and 60% plant-based. Andy Pieters, a member of the Flemish Parliament (representing the New Flemish Alliance, N-VA), questions these new guidelines. "Healthy food is important, but is it a core task of the agricultural administration to provide nutritional guidance in every canteen or student restaurant?" he asks. "For the N-VA, the answer is no. The intentions may be good, but given Flanders' rich tradition of *frietjes* (fries), do we really want young people to be deprived of the choice to have fries wherever they go? And do we really want to regulate every single detail—down to the exact gram—from the Flemish government level, or even ban the use of butter or eggs in mashed potatoes? I don’t think Minister Brouns [Jo Brouns, the Flemish Minister for Environment and Agriculture, also from the N-VA] considers that a good idea."
Minister Brouns declined to comment. Bart Merckaert, a spokesperson for the Agency for Agriculture and Fisheries, clarified: "Companies and schools have reached out to us, asking how they could make their offerings more sustainable. In response, we asked a firm to draft a set of specifications. These are merely recommendations—nothing more. To be clear: the Flemish government is not banning the consumption of fries or croquettes." Andy Pieters adds: "The three tender documents cost 18,150 euros—part of a total of nearly 100,000 euros allocated by the Flemish government in 2025 for ten projects under the 'Green Deal' initiative for protein transition. Six of these ten projects have yet to yield any tangible results. The minister must urgently instruct his administration to rectify the situation."