Recent government comments about healthy eating have caused huge concerns amongst those of us campaigning to improve school food. Throw away comments by Andrew Lansley (Health Secretary) about Jamie Oliver's healthy school food experiment "failing" and invitations to junk food companies to take over healthy eating campaigning are alarming. Government intervention over the last 5 years has protected school children from nutritionally poor food. Nutritional standards for school meals has meant that unscrupulous caterers are no longer allowed to make a profit by selling our kids rubbish. A lot of parents, dinner ladies and food campaigners have worked long and hard to ensure this happened. we are not going to roll over and allow these gains to be overturned. Next week I plan to meet up with various grassroot campaigners to discuss what we need to do. Please make contact if you would like to be involved in these discussions. I will report back next week.
Well, this is the last school dinner children in Merton primary schools will be eating until September. Prices are set to rise to £2.00 a meal. This includes a 16p subsidy from Merton Council. There has been a steady improvement in the quality of the meals over the school year and in my own school the completion of the school kitchen has seen a dramatic improvement. What ever happens at government level Merton Parents for Better Food in School will fight to ensure every school child in Merton is offered only good quality, tasty, freshly prepared meals in pleasant surroundings.
Next academic year the catering company that provides primary school meals will be taking over the catering at the secondary schools. We are expecting improvements and will be monitoring closely.
Recent media: 20 Inspiring Women in Food
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Last week I was honored to be named as one of 20 Inspiring women who are
changing the way we eat (I’m #7 when you are scrolling through). I feel
especially...
8 years ago
3 comments:
What a positive note on which to end this school year. Merton Parents should be very proud of all they have achieved. Well done!
Oliver's self promoting "experiment" was not nearly as successful as the proposal my ex wife put to his office some while before he returned from NY to venture on his "Dinner Ladies" TV series & etc would have been.
Nursery age children are far more impressionable - "Give me a child {when very young} and I'll give you the man/woman" as the Jesuits etc were fond of saying . . . .
Concentrating on an age group where so many staff are/were already mindful of attempting to inculcate eating slices of apple, and other healthy foods would have been a much more successful flagship from the point of view of children's health.
But it wouldn't have suited the always business savvy son of the Essex publican, who has never been known to put himself and his own second.
Not flagship TV series enough.
All power to you in the good fight!
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