Morning:
6°c
One of Damilola Taylor's killers was back behind bars today - only 16 days after being released from jail. Ricky Preddie (pictured left) was recalled to prison last night after breaching the terms of his parole
More...
School meals service 'in meltdown' as Jamie Oliver's healthy food turns off 400,000 pupils
Last updated at 19:37pm on 03.09.07Jamie Oliver's crusade against unhealthy school dinners has led to 400,000 pupils deserting the service, it was claimed yesterday.
Demand for lunches has slumped almost 20 per cent in scondary schools since his campaign to banish junk food.
The TV chef inspired a Government drive which replaced canteen staples such as Turkey Twizzlers, burgers and chips with pasta, fresh vegetables and fish.
But politicians say the dinners service is in 'meltdown' because the changes have been brought in too quickly.
Scroll down for more
Jamie Oliver: not to the taste of many children
"Instead of boosting the number of children taking up healthy school meals, Government policy has contributed to an implosion of the service," said Liberal Democrat schools spokesman David Laws.
There are just over 4 million pupils in primary schools and around 3.3 million in secondaries.
Figures released yesterday by the School Food Trust showed nearly two-thirds of secondary pupils are shunning school meals. Take-up last year was 37.7 per cent - against 44.9 per cent two years before.
In primary schools, the popularity of lunches has dwindled from 44.9 per cent in 2004/05 to 41.2 per cent in 2006/07. It means 236,000 fewer secondary pupils and 150,000 primary children are opting for canteen meals.
Mums handing their children bought lunches through the school fence
The figures disguise wide variations across the country. In the East of England, school dinners take-up in secondary schools slumped 13 per cent last year.
The findings prompted renewed calls for children to be barred from leaving school at lunch time to buy food from takeaways. The trust said a school which introduced a 'locked gate' policy at lunch time had seen a 15 per cent increase in meals take-up.
Jamie Oliver, speaking to the BBC, said an initial decline in take-up was unsurprising because "kids don't like change".
He added: "We'll see that negative turn into a positive." Children's Minister Kevin Brennan said that where pupils had been involved and informed about the changes, they had been "more positive" about the menus.
Mr Laws, however, said schools had been forced to switch from serving burgers to "lentil bakes" too inflexibly and with too little education of pupils and parents.
The healthy food drive last year led to a rebellion at one school in Rotherham where mothers began running a junk food delivery service through the playground fence. Julie Critchlow and Sam Walker said youngsters were not interested in overpriced "low-fat rubbish".
Mr Laws warned that the Government was expected to miss targets for increasing school meal take-up in primaries to 52 per cent by 2009 and 53 per cent in secondaries.
Curbs on junk food sold in school vending machines and tuck shops come into force this week. Further school meal standards, based on levels of nutrients in food, take effect in primary schools in September 2008 and the following September in secondary schools.
• Children are starting school barely able to speak because parents do not talk to them enough, an expert warned yesterday.
Rising numbers cannot string a sentence together or understand simple instructions because they are being left too long in front of "electronic babysitters" such as TV and video games, said Sue Palmer.
The literacy expert and former headmistress pointed to research last year that revealed half of youngsters - up to 84 per cent in some areas - are starting school with "impoverished speech and language".
Mrs Palmer also warned that children are no longer learning practical skills such as how to sew buttons, handwash clothes, clean windows and make conversation because parents are too busy to teach them.
In her book Detoxing Childhood, Mrs Palmer advises parents to ban electronic entertainment such as video games and TV during a child's first three years and introduce it afterwards only in limited amounts.
Reader views (27)
Jamie Oliver is ridiculous! All he did was change the meals too quickly and didn't let the childrens taste buds to develop. Most children are choosing to not eat lunch because of the overpriced unhealthy, small portions of food !
- Anisha, UK, 27/02/2010 15:28
Report abuse
im still at school and i have to say we have hardley any nice meals - all they did was took away the sausages, the spegetti the chips but they never put anything healthy back in - except they have crappy caged chicken meat burgers - broken cakes and its all so overpriced - who would pay 90p for a biscuit? i wouldnt and the lines we have to wait in to get to the food take about 20 minutes on good days - most people push to the front so ur left waitin while people who got there much later then you eat there food - by the time u get there - everythings gone - and only a 50 minute break - 30 mins of thats in the line for christ sake! they serve on a "first come first served basis" if theres kids 2 feed - make or "reaheat" enuf food for god sake!
- Jp, england, 08/10/2009 21:10
Report abuse
What's wrong with these mothers?
- Kara Tyson, Mobile, AL USA, 04/09/2007 22:16
Report abuse
I wish Jamie would cross the pond and bring healthy eating to our US schools.
- Johnnie, Sanford, USA, 04/09/2007 21:56
Report abuse
Wow, awesome parents. I guess if you don't respect yourself, you're not going to respect your children either.
- Karen, Canada, 04/09/2007 19:34
Report abuse
In my day you ate the school meals and that was that, there was no choice. The parents who deliver takeaways to their children are stupid.
- Oli, London, 04/09/2007 17:17
Report abuse
Before Jamie came along schools got away with selling kids fizzy drinks, sweets and chips day in day out as a "school dinner". Do we really want to go back to that?
Then they could dish up all sorts of rubbish and get away with it. Now of course none of those items are illegal nor will they kill you if you eat them in moderation but we have let generations of school kids eat total junk day in and day out and now we are seeing the health consequences of that.
There has been 20 years of rot. We now need to increase school kitchens so they are capable of cooking rather than just re heating, train catering staff, improve canteens so kids dont spend 20 minutes queuing and make sure Heads allow enough time to eat.
You can not teach children about healthy eating - you need to show them in practise by providing tasty, healthy food.
- Jackie Schneider, United Kingdom, 04/09/2007 17:10
Report abuse
Big Brother will not tell me how to take care of my children! Gordon Brown back off.
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London, 04/09/2007 17:01
Report abuse
Are we really sure that children are getting healthier meals? It is unfortunate that although the menus look good on paper the food is often a disappointment. I know that my child, that is used to eating a variety of foods, but not junk food, complains regularly about her school meals.
Could it be that quality is still missing? After all schools are working on very limited budgets for kids meals.
- Lorena, London UK, 04/09/2007 16:31
Report abuse
My children are stopping school meals, not due to the change in menu, as they are very healthy with their eating, but due to the fact there is never a full menu available by the time they get to the canteen! One of my children is in year 5, by the time he gets to the canteen, after years 1-4 have got there, the menu is so restricted he is coming home hungry.
The result of outsourcing the catering I'm afraid. If there are 300 children to cook for, they make 300 meals, with no allowance for menu preference.
- Gavin, Maidstone, Kent, 04/09/2007 13:33
Report abuse
Bad food is one thing. I think Jamie's efforts are very worthwhile and he should receive more support. That children turn away from the kind of food he proposes is not his fault but that of the parents who are content to feed their children the disgusting tripe that passes for food these days.
I'm far more alarmed by the report that some children are now not even able to form a coherent sentence because their parents don't take the time to talk to them anymore. This is a basic human skill. If they cannot even talk to each other anymore, what are they going to do when they grow up, what can they expect out of life in a society where communication is 24/7/365 through a dazzling array of channels?
Not being able to even speak... in a country that has an embarrassment of riches in literary talent throughout history. It beggars belief.
Why are people made to work so hard to make ends meet that they can't fulfill the basic function of an individual: to be a valuable and contributing member of society.
Who is going to do something about this?
- Frances, London, UK, 04/09/2007 12:57
Report abuse
How about more sport? Instead of selling off school playing fields and making kids eat hippy foods make them play more contact sports and that will burn the calories up. Chips or mash or boiled potatoes with a portion of veg and some kind of meat or fish was a staple of schools foods for decades and decades and we all grew up ok. And source the stuff locally and get dinner ladies who actually cook the stuff rather than deliveries ready to reheat.
- Squiz, Islington, 04/09/2007 12:54
Report abuse
Another fine mess they made.
- Georgie, London, 04/09/2007 11:17
Report abuse
"Take-up last year was 37.7 per cent - against 44.9 per cent two years before."
Isn't it better to have 37% of kids eating good quality food, rather than 45% eating saturated fat rubbish? The first decreases child obesity and the second increases it.
Parents who constantly feed their children rubbish should be charged with child abuse. They are damaging their children's health (and shortening their lifespan) in the same way a more physical attack would.
- Moz, London, 04/09/2007 10:54
Report abuse
Bravo Paul. These days it seems that children’s wants are paramount. As I was brought up and as I brought up my own two children...whilst you live under my roof you will do things the way that I want, when you are living in your own home you can do things your way. It would seem therefore that parents are quite happy to give up their responsibilities these days and let the children rule the roost. Healthy eating, who needs it? It's far easier to indulge in fast foods and stuff the consequences. Parents need to take back control and teach the next generation a bit about self control... if they themselves know much about it. Perhaps we REALLY do need a nanny state.
- Dennis, Taplow U.K., 04/09/2007 10:20
Report abuse
Why was this money spent on such a useless experiment?
- Alexandra, London, NW1, 04/09/2007 08:00
Report abuse
School meals are too expensive for most to afford. Now schools want to lock in students to force them to eat what their parents can't afford?
What next, force feeding them by tube? Shame on you all!
- Henry Adams, Manchester, UK, 04/09/2007 01:56
Report abuse
Try eating a meal at an American school cafeteria. I wish we had decent food like that, most of it made me barf. Plus in the US you get to pay out your behind for it, unless of course you're rich, in which case your parents bribe the school officials and you get to eat for free while all the poor kids watch.
- Frank, Mansfield, Massachusetts, USA, 03/09/2007 23:20
Report abuse
The problem is we coddle our children today and give them too much control. Who cares if the food at school isn't exactly to their preference - if it's healthy and reasonably priced, there is no reason not to eat it.
Parents are the problem, as they encourage their children by allowing them to eat whatever they want. Plus there is lack of respect for authority because the parents bail out their kids the minute they don't like something.
If you want to let your kid grow up to overweight and unhealthy - that is a horrible future to want for your child.
It's time to stand up and act like adults.
- Autumn, London, UK, 03/09/2007 21:08
Report abuse
Another wasted project paid for by the increased taxes load of Gordon Brown...
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London, 03/09/2007 17:02
Report abuse
Cam, what is the difference between a hamburger and a beefburger?
And would you not eat a hamburger?
- Stuart, UK, 03/09/2007 15:20
Report abuse
Even more reason to use a private school. It seems new Labour has effectively broken the good state schools.
- Jack, London NW1, 03/09/2007 12:57
Report abuse
Is it possible that someone has forgotten that while children are undergoing one of their growth spurts, they actually need a vast amount of extra calories in order to fuel the growth? And that if all they can get at school is a calorie-counted "healthy" meal, they'll feel hungry after eating it, and both they and their parents will decide that school meals are a waste of money?
Chips with everything may not actually be such a bad idea for growing kids.
- Nigel, London, 03/09/2007 12:53
Report abuse
It seems anything that is touched by the New Labour administration bureacracy turns into a nightmare.
- Stevo, London, 03/09/2007 12:43
Report abuse
A fine example of being able to lead a horse to water without necessarily making it drink. If parents stand up to their little darlings and refuse to give them money for chips every lunchtime they will eventually have to eat what's on offer. The problem is that an awful lot of the parents are as bad as if not worse than the kids.
- Paul, London, 03/09/2007 12:32
Report abuse
When the "new and healthier" school meal menu came home after the Oliver campaign my own stomach turned. There were meals on it which may well be healthy but which I would need to be very hungry to eat, much less a child.
Pork burgers? Pork sausage yes. Beef burgers, made with lean good quality meat, wholesome seasoning, etc - yes. But why muck up two good recipes into one unappetising slab?
Cobbler? 40 years ago it was a plate of cobbler (made with real shoe leather) that finished me off with school dinners - I took packed lunch in after that.
I am all in favour of sensible diets and healthy eating which I give my daughter in her packed lunch and at home but I had to sympathise with her distaste at the latest stuff on offer in the school canteen.
- Cam, Essex, 03/09/2007 12:27
Report abuse
Quite why kids today seem unable to exist on anything other than burgers made from the what's been blasted off the carcass and abattoir floor, is frankly beyond me.
- Neil Evans, Notting Hill, 03/09/2007 10:50
Report abuse
