Has Jamie's health drive killed off school meals?

Instead of buying the new lunches made from fresh ingredients, youngsters are relying on cheap takeaways and snack food to get them through the day.

The Local Authority Caterers Association told a conference in Birmingham: "In 2007, the picture is one of considerable concern over the future viability of the school meals service, particularly in secondary schools."

Oliver's award-winning TV series three years ago, called Jamie's School Dinners, exposed the poor quality of the meals and found as little as 56p was spent on ingredients.

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As a result, the Government announced a £220 million cash injection over three years followed by a further £240 million until 2011 to improve catering facilities and subsidise the cost of meals.

Schools were ordered to cut down on fried food such as chips and burgers made from reconstituted meat and offer more nutritional alternatives.

But since then some schools have seen a 30 per cent reduction in takings from lunches and vending machines, which have been filled with water, juice and milk instead of pop. Twothirds of local authorities in England report that they are making a loss on school lunches, the LACA said.

In primary schools, the average cost of the food for a meal has gone up from 40p in 2004 to 60p, while in secondary schools it has risen from 56p to 74p.

The switch from ready meals to cooking from scratch has also put up the bill for training and pay, which has been reflected in the price of meals.

An average school lunch now costs £1.64, up by almost 20 per cent from £1.37 in three years.

Sandra Russell, chairman of the association, said pupils had voted with their feet and taken their money elsewhere.

"We cannot expect to reverse an embedded eating culture overnight nor can we convert teenagers to a healthier regime by force," she said.

"We are in danger of the secondary school meal service fragmenting or dying altogether if we are not careful."

Last year, mothers in Rotherham staged a rebellion outside Rawmarsh Comprehensive School against the imposition of healthy meals.

Instead of backing the drive for lowfat dinners, they offered to collect fish and chips, hamburgers and fizzy drinks for children and were taking up to 60 orders a day.

Chris Wainwright, of the School Food Trust which was set up by the Government to help implement changes to school meals, said: "Our view is that the situation is not as doom and gloom as it sounds, but it is a serious issue and we are not underestimating the challenges at all.

"The difficulty with secondary schools in particular is that pupils can leave the premises and it is difficult to convince teenagers of the benefits of a healthy diet.

"We are working hard with parents to ensure they sign their children up to school meals and fully understand the benefits of healthy meals."

A spokesman said Oliver was on holiday and unavailable for comment.