Schools 'should offer one meat-free menu a week'

School canteens should offer a complete vegetarian menu one day a week, according to Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot.

Mr Hulot told weekly newspaper L'Obs that it was 'a matter of education' for schools to have at least one meat-free menu each week - and he hoped to formally introduce the policy 'soon'.

He said that his proposal was part of a wider debate on animal welfare and added that he intends to discuss conditions for livestock with Minister of Agriculture Stéphane Travert, "because I am convinced that thinking has changed enormously on this subject".

Questions of animal welfare cannot be ignored, Mr Hulot said. "It is necessary to reduce suffering as much as possible."

Mr Hulot admitted he is not vegetarian, but said that his family only eat meat once a week.