Academy schools allowed to continue to sell junk food

[Rosebud05]

I feel really upset about this...

www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/may/20/jamie-oliver-banned-food-academy-mps?newsfeed=true

The Schools Food Trust recommends, based on government commissioned research, that regulations about what can and cannot be on sale in schools are extended to cover academies (as it does maintained schools) and the govt says no.

I find the DfE quote incredulous "We trust teachers to know what's best for their pupils". Teachers don't make decisions about what goes in the vending machine FGS, and you don't appear to trust them to, eh, do their job.

The real reason, of course, is that all these academies have signed up to long contracts with corporate cronies and they'll get sued if they pull out.

Absolute disgrace. Never have our nation's children been so overweight and never has a government cared so little for their health. Lining the pockets of their corporate pals clearly comes first.

"We trust teachers ? the professionals on the frontline ? to do what is best for their pupils."

Hahahahahahaha! What hypocrites. They constantly interfere with the professionalism of teachers, assume that anyone could do a better job with no training in pedagogy or the subject, as long as they have been in the army, make the stand up when the enter the room, have a King james bible in the (crumbling and collapsing) building and test them incessantly. But interfere with anything where the school migt make a profit or save money and suddenly the teachers can be trsuted.

As if teachers have a say in it anyway. It will be the Aacademies' business managers making the decisions - possibly getting a kickback from the catering contracts anyway!

Absolute hypocrites.

On £2 a day no one is making any money!

The pre-Jamie average spend on ingredients per pupil was very low - he was campaigning for it to be raised to 63p, I think. And Sodexo and the like pay rock bottom wages. They are commercial companies, of course they make money! Sodexo are making massive profits Albeit growth - that's growth, not overall profit - is restricted to 0.1% in education.

And if I read that report correctly the company has improved it's proficts by adjusting the way it calculates pensions .