>>Jamie Oliver Return to School Dinners Ch 4 NOW! <<

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just a reminder

lots of tv people use people movers (not 4x4's) for crews, vans for ob's, not range rovers, ime

But food and healthy eating are his job and his passion, not cars. I'd be p*ssed off if Jeremy Clarkson told me what to feed my children, but, if he was promoting green cars, I wouldn't dismiss his opinion because he feeds his children burgers and chips everyday.

Can I add that Jeremy Clarkson irritates me no matter what he says.

I switched off at the point he waltzed into the pub to get them to make shepherds pie for the poor deprived little packed lunch eaters up the road. It was a bit dull and I thought that if I was a kid I'd rather have packed lunches, especially in a super cool lunchbox, than lukewarm pub grub, personally. Also thought the budget discussion with Nora was contrived so that Jamie and Nora could do some outraged handwringing followed by pretend ass kicking. The Kidbrooke head teacher seemed very surprised to hear about the budget deficit and stressed that it wasn't a problem anyway as they weren't out to make a profit. All in all programme seemed pretty uninteresting, very contrived and vaguely irritating so I went to bed. Think it's great that he's put school food on the map but now he has I wish he'd shut up about it really. One year is too soon for an evaluation anyway- he should have waited a while. Interesting to hear about him in person aitch71- that's almost exactly how I'd pictured him!

I couldnt bear to sit through him knobbing on so went to bed early

dh said JO absolutely refused to listen to anyone else's POV and came across as a self-indulgent oddball

I feel sorry for his wife

she always looks knackered

Anyone else shocked/vastly entertained by the bit where he was talking to the old people in the cafe in Lincs and he was surprised to hear that not everyone had cars? He'd known that it was a poor area but assumed that even poor people had cars.... duh.
(Though actually I think his naivety is part of his charm. He makes out he's a normal geezer but he is so, so not.)

At the primary school here in Lincs that ds went to, the reason they stopped school dinners was because they could not afford to produce the kind of meals they wanted to for the funding they got
End of - they had guidelines for school lunches, some things were prohibited and one day a week was treat day when prohibited things were allowed.
This worked really well FWIW I'd rather pack my ds a lunch than see him eat that processed shite they were offering at his old school.

Now this primary now has mums staffing the kitchen daily on a voluntary roster, local organic farm supplying low cost standard fruit and seasonal veg. Excellent butcher supplying sausages and poultry and meat.
Sandwiches/rolls/yoghurts/fruit juice/homemade cake are all available for £1.60 as a meal box as well.
The food is simple but excellent - the teachers also eat it on the whole and contribute more than the kids. Many of these kids have two working parents and they were missing out on decent cooked meals weekdays.
Lincs really needs parents to get into sorting it out - Jamie cannot do it, pubs cannot do it, but parents and schools can.

I can't disagree with any of the comments about him being irritating/patronizing etc - but does anyone really believe that he doesn't give a shit about the kids, and is doing it all for his own sake? I can't believe that - there is a core of genuine altruism in it, IMO. So I can put up with his less attractive attributes. We all have those.

Has anyone noticed that Jamie Oliver's tongue seems to be too big for his mouth??

God those parents! My chidren can be a bit awkward and desiring-of-junk at times.. but those packed lunches...!!! I was speechless!!

noticed?

there used to be a whole website aobut it

ROFL Enid

You crabbed old cynic

I think he is sweet. Especially when he is being earnest. Aaaaw.

Yes I think he is quite sweet and his sincereity is endearing.. I just hadn't noticed the tongue thing until last night..

there really was a website, greensleeves. you could play games where you progressively injured Jamie until he strangled himself with his own tongue. or something like that. when you hit him he would shout 'pukka', which rather made you want to hit him all the more.

Oh no, that's horrible

I think what JO is trying to achieve is fantastic. I thought the 'burger van' that he used at one of the Schools was a great idea and wondered why that wasn't considered instead of pubs and restaurants for the Schools with no kitchens?

just saw what you wrote about the people carriers, bundle. yes, they use people carriers for moving crew around from base to base, but i have never in my life seen a people carrier utilised on screen. my point is that it may be the producers and directors hiring the 4x4s because they know that they'll use them in shot and they think they look modern and glamorous.

(I'm pretty sure that JO owns a 4x4 by the way, but that surely doesn't explain how everyone on telly has the same car whenever they make a documentary that requires any shots to camera while driving. )

There was one hell of a crack on the wind screen

Re the lack of kichens, it is totaly abismal that sools do not have access to either a kichen, or good quality, hot food from a supplier.

there is nothing wrong with a good packed lunch. Trouble was, for lots of those kids, they cane into school with no breakfast, and didn't go home to a hot meal either. The head raised this issue.

The kitchens went during cut backs in the Thatcher era. What a bloody surprise!

Did anybody else find it ironic that at the beginning of the programme when he and Nora were discussing healthy eating for school children, Nora was puffing away on a cigarette!

I think what he has done is wonderful but as a business model, the pubs and school link will be difficult to maintain in terms of standards, quality, costs and profit plus motivation from all those involved. The schools need kitchens. Why can't they set up kitchens in portakabins as a short-medium term solution?

I agree that the buisness link will be very difficult to maintain.

I also agree that the schools need kichens, trouble is, the schools don't have the money. If the government fronted up the cash, that would be great.

If you insist that schools pay, the money will have to come from somewhere else, staff numbers, text books and equipment, ICT stuff. And tbh, none of those areas are at 'luxury' levels, at least they are not where I teach.

This is the first year in 3 years that I have had books to teach my sixth form. Three years of A levels taugh without a frigging text book.

It would end up robbing Peter to pay Paul.

I was thinking about the money that has been ring-fenced for refurbishing kitchens. Thatcher the Milk Snatcher and her cronies have a lot to answer for. Their penny pinching meaness created this situation and it will now cost us, the taxpayer, a fortune to put right!

So true re Thatcher, speedymama and mb. I think the only loss I would feel if Mrs T had never come to power would be the non-existence of the slogan "Thatcher Thatcher milk snatcher" in fact. And while it would be worth it, it is a rather wonderful slogan so i feel I must thank you for reminding me of it, sm!

the teacher at the school where some parents were selling fish n chips through the railings was on radio yesterday. Apparently packing in lessons in the afternoon means they have a shorter time for (the new, healthier style) lunch and there are massive queues for the food (that's the excuse for them selling the junk food, apparently) - which sounds like a logistics problem, so could be solved with better management. (oh and a large number of kids simply "didn't like the food offered")

I drive past that school on my way to work bundle.