Snafu - the private school admission bothered me because JO is implying that all state schools serve crap food for school dinners and all private schools serve decent food for school dinners. This is simply not true and he may get a shock if he probes around the kitchen of a private school.
I worked at an Independent school. The food was inedible most of the time. Profit came first. The teenagers all chose chips and those lame excuses for burgers everyday and the Junior School children had a pitiful small portion of beans and turkey dinosaurs or chicken nuggets or a Walls sausage or some other rubbish.
Just because its a private school doesn't mean the school has employed a top caterer who pops out to the farmers market to get their meat and vegetables. The food is still mostly pre-cooked stuff that is stored ina freezer and re-heated.
Private schools are out to make a profit too... and because they tend to hire out their facilities for priavte functions, they have to use outside caterers to have enough staff to work antisocial hours.
I'm not saying it is this way in every private school but the one I worked in was large and prestigious and clearly, for many years, the financial powers that be did not care about the food. As I said earlier, it was only pressure from teaching staff (who get a free dinner in return for duties) that has made the school switch caterers and chips are only on the menu 1 day per week and the food has improved.
My nephew goes to a state Junior school and there is a fortnightly menu which is heavenly for conscientious parents. My SIL was sending him with a packed lunch but when she saw how good and varied the food was, she decided to send my nephew for school dinners, in the hope the peer pressure would help him try some new foods. It has worked.