Jamie Olivers rant about packed lunches.

[misdee]

LONDON (Reuters) - Jamie Oliver, the television chef famous for his crusade to improve school dinners, lashed out at parents on Thursday over the food they give to their children.

Speaking at the launch of his new TV programme, Oliver said 70 percent of packed lunches in were "disgraceful" and he would like to see them banned.

He said the decisions parents made regarding the diets of their children
were sometimes just plain wrong.
"I've spent two years being politically correct about parents but it's time to say, if you're giving your young kids fizzy drinks, you're an a*hole and a tosser," Oliver said.

"If you give them bags of crisps, you're an idiot. If you aren't cooking them a hot meal, sort it out."

Oliver said headteachers were too frightened of some parents to tell them what they should give their child to bring to school.

He was particularly critical of parents who give their children Red Bull an energy drink when they are tired, saying it was not much better than giving them a line of cocaine.

Oliver's new programme, "Jamie's Return to School Dinners", is a follow-up to his successful Channel 4 series on improving school meals.

But can we keep a nose out, when there are some parents who give their kids a comprable amount of crap to the things that you are happy to ban?

How will we improve the diet of some kids unless the schols can say, 'Crisps, chocolate and redbull does not make a good lunch'?

And re-reading my post, I do accept that some foods are really detrimental to kids' behaviour but there is a world of difference between giving a child choc spread white bread sarnies washed down with blue smarties and red bull, and the sort of 'sensible' treats which I believe the majority of parents give kids. But what's next? Letters being sent home suggesting what we are 'allowed' to feed our kids for breakfast?

In my children's school they eat their main course together (they choose which menu earlier in the day - because the school caters for veget, hindus, jews and muslim diets every day) (packed lunches banned) and then they only start their pudding when everyone on the table has finished and only leave the table as a class when everyone has finished in a order of tables set down by the school so no one would be rushing off not finishing their food. It seems to work well, this banning of packed lunches. It's very egalitarian as well and means the chidlren can't argue over wanting a packed lunch also a lot less work for working parents as no preparation of food etc.

carole malones article was spot on imo

oh yes its quite good isn't it and something I pondered in bed last night. Tonight I will be ponderiing WTF are goji berries

I can understand why some of you get upset about all this stuff. But one hing that amuses me, how many of us do 'treats' on a friday!!

I do - jam or honey sandwich (hard bolied egg for protien) or crisps (and no I don't check to make sure they are MSG/salt free! or even a few sweets

I also do peperami, cheese strips/strings on occasion.

My view is as long as they some sort of protien twice a day, carbs at most meals, 5 portions of fruit and veg and some dairy, then they can have other stuff.

Not had time to read the whole thread, but I think what Jamie has done is brilliant.

The amount of kids I see going to school with a pack of crisps, chocolate bar and fizzy drink for their breakfast is unbelievable. It is these people who he is targeting.

Of course it is not a problem to allow our children treats, but there really are some stupid parents out there who don't seem to get it and think that that is a healthy breakfast. When people say they don;t have time to prepare something - CRAP - get up 10 mins earlier. Also healthy food doesn't have to cost a fortune, in fact I'd say ready meals cost a hell of a lot more than most fresh food.

\www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/carolemalone/tm_objectid=17716938%26method=full%26siteid=62484-name_page.html\my thoughts and I usually hate the woman}

bugger

and I have nothing on my conscience spiderama, as I said before my kids eat pretty well by all accounts. My Mother was a head chef, so I was taught to cook from very young and still cook now

Good article by Carole Sarler, but one of the things which pisses me off is this constant repetition of the claim that shit food is much cheaper than good food.

If you go to my local market, you can get enough fresh fruit, vegetables, fish and meat for a week, for about £20 - £25. You can't do that in the local supermarket. She is comparing the cost of artichokes to the cost of 24 bags of crisps or something, which is not a reasonable comparison. You don't need to buy expensive, exotic imported food to eat healthily (I'd argue that the fewer air-miles the better), you just need basic unprocessed food and a knowledge of cookery. It's very disempowering, imo to keep promoting the lie that good food is very expensive - it's a harmful myth, because it gives people an opt out. If you tell them they can't afford to eat healthily, they'll believe you.

I accept that where there are "food deserts", in areas like council estate where the nearest place to buy fresh food is at least a bus-ride away, then her argument absolutely stands up; but many people who eat rubbish, don't live in food deserts; they just don't prioritise fresh good food. Whenever I go to Morrisons (my nearest big supermarket) I'm always shocked by the price of lunchables, fruit shoots, etc. and wonder how people can afford to buy them. Outside of food deserts, this isn't an economic issue imo. Lots of people in this country can afford to buy good food and they don't.

Advice needed on crackers before go crackers. If whack a couple of bits of ryvita with butter on into DS' lunchbox, will they have gone soggy by lunchtime? Have no doubt that someone on here will know.

Agree with spidermama here Thank god someone has taken actual action rather than just wittering on about it but doing nothing(me) Crisps and fizzy drinks and processed food are crap and I don't think it even needs an argument because it is a fact.Why hate him?Someone had to say it.

I remember reading that his wife took a container of fruit to kids parties so that his kids could have that instead of 'sugary stuff'.

parp

willow - do your own test at home - I don't know about ryvita, but cream crackers stay crispy

Message withdrawn

Enid, just wait until those kids go to Uni and then see what happens Extremees (ALL extemes ) are accidents waiting to happen imo.

Have sent sam to school today with white bread sarnies and a cake amde with jam (albeit home made from home grown fruit, school won't know that- Nigella's cherry buns to be precise) iced in chocolate with a cherry on. The bread is irrelevant, he won't touch it.

RE: the food deserts, you'd be amazed how many poeple DO ive in these deserts. I live in a very posh area (by default over deservedness LOL) and there is nothing but 2 Spar here to shop from, it is assumed that everyone can afford a car, which is ridiculous- there's a huge council estate here (just hidden up the hill so the palnners can forget it), and there must be opthers like me who are facing loss of their driving licence for one reason or other (mine is eyesight). When Sam was born we lived in one of those new build estates, and then it was an hour walk to get into town.

i have not read all the threads but i feel that there is a difference between laziness and the parents who give these things to their kids because they feel they are making them happy by giving them 'nice' things in there lunchboxes. I know i feel guilty when i buy holly a fruit-shoot as a'treat' when i know some water or flavoured water is better for her. so if jamie oliver slating bad. lazy lunchboxes in such a way is going to bring it home, then well done him!

The answer to those who think their kids would only eat the crisps if they had them in their lunchboxes is to vet what comes back and remove the 'extras' the next day.

My kids know that a sandwich and the fruit are the most important bits - the other things are extras. If they don't eat the sandwich or fruit because 'they didn't have time' that's all the get the next day. That way I hope that they will learn a little bit about balance in their diet and to take a bit of responsiblity for their own nutrition.

That depends on the child though, Sam'll just not eat (he's already booked in for psychiatric testing to check for anorexic signs at six years old).

If I send cake / dairy free yog / sarnies, yog and sarnies come back. If I send yog / sarnies, they just both come back.

Of course it does Peachy . There are exceptions to any rule but I find it works for mine.

the "don't give them anything else" rule in general does not work for autistic children.

I tried it twice. Both times ds1 ate nothing for an entire day, then spent the next three days with a migraine chucking up with me trying to get sugars back into him to stop him throwing.

At that stage I started trying to work with the autism rather than against it. Can't say I got very far, but ds1's special school- with a year of working on it- did (and no thanks to Jamie Oliver who spannered the early progress ds1 had made).

Peachy - have you read "can't eat won't eat". It has good ideas (not that I ever managed to get any of them to work!), and it does make you realise that you're not alone with the problem.

JimJams, the dietician gave me a copy but said 'I think you know enough anyway'- I have a history of eating disorders in my early twenties myself (Did I jump reading some of the stuff in the Sunderland booklet LOL). Sam was called fat at school, school tinks he ahs to learn to deal with name calling, Sam decides to lose weight. Sigh. So, when this chap comes to help us put together Sam's statement info next month he can do a test for things relating to depression, which this would do apparently.

The best thing about the book is finding out there are children out there with even worse diets. It was a relief to find out that one child would only eat white chocolate buttons!

Sam sounds similar to Charlotte Moore's George. Someone saying to him "now eat up all your dinner so you grow into a big boy" led to him refusing to eat. He didn't want to be a big boy- because then he'd have to move schools etc so he stopped eating.

Actually George and Sam was good as well as I found out she did the same as me (pondering whether crisps counted towards the 5 protions of fruit and veg- I decided they had to as it was the closest ds1 got to a fruit or vegetable- I think she decided that unfortunately parma violets weren't fruit or veg )

I find myself agreeing with him, even if he is a bit extreme. Given the weight problems I see here in north american kids (this summer at the swimming pools, I saw how bad it was. IT was sad.) When I am thinner than young girls (after 5 kids and moving on past 40), something is really wrong here. Anyway, I went into the market and the store was stocked with back to school specials all loaded at the front "puddings, sugary cerals, mini-chocolate bars in boxes of 100, and cookies. All less than 5 pounds, far less for some. no fruits or veg in sight. And I have to say the fruit I did buy was horrible. THe apples were soft and bruised and it did cost more. I remember the taste of fruit as a kid and it was so good, fresh, juicy. Fruit and veg is just not as good in a regular supermarket so kids don't get to experince how good it really is. I still feed it to my kids of course but I know it isn't as good as I used to get. WHat is going on here? WHat message do we send kids?

What timing, my daughter just came out complaining her apple is full of bruises!