Are you watching Jamie Oliver's school dinners?

[MunchedTooManyMarsLady]

Jamie's being given a run for his money. Loving it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I guess. But there has to be a way. Maye add less of the meat to each portion and bulk it up with more veggies and/or potatoes then. Better than the stuff that makes the bulk of a burger.

What made me laugh was the idea that they're not allowed to add salt to the cooking (if you can call it cooking). Because, of course, that would be unhealthy, wouldn't it?

I was horrified at some of the stuff they served up to those kids. DS isn't school age yet so I have no experience of current school meals and tbh had no idea it was so bad. This is such a mindblowingly obvious place to start improving the health of the nation and relieving some of the burden on the NHS. Education, education, education, anyone??

what I don't understand is why only 37p when I know it costs us over £1 (at least it did until wonderful packed lunches)

37p for the ingredients - the rest goes towards the salaries of the staff I should think. Who else would pay them?

Because they are generally run by private firms????

They are full of reconstituted scrapings off the abattoir floor too - lips and eyelids and bits off bones.

Does the local council or the school not pay for the staff salaries? They are employed by the council round here - BUT the food, planners etc. comes from a private firm.

DS2's canteen charges 60p for 1 disgusting turkey drummer.

Bl**dy ridiculous!

Some schools don't have onsite kitchens so they pay for the over heads on those as well. When they contract out the catering the portion of our money that goes towards the food gets even less.

I agree with Hula's post of 10.17

I went to look around some potential senior schools for DD1 and do you know that not one of them did food tech? I was shocked. They do it at DS1's senior school.

well, yes, the staff are paid by the council, but the cost for kids other than those on free meals is passed on.

I do think they should be subsidised though, out of the education budget. Brain food is what those kids need.

Trouble is that in a lot of schools they don't even have kitchens to cook in, the food is just bussed in and heated up. In my LEA (Dudley) they produce a menu sheet each term so you know what's on offer - but does this mean EVERY school has the same food from one provider? I am going to try and find out at parents' evening! Anyway most of it looks OK but there is a choice of 3 or 4 meals every day so you never know what your child is eating. For example tomorrow's menu looks quite healthy - Roast beef & veg; cauliflower cheese; 'chef's choice'. Every day has a chef's choice - have no idea what it is, could be chicken nuggets every day I suppose! DS (age 4.11) has school dinner on Thurs and Fris, and when I ask him what he ate for lunch, he usually can't remember!

Jamie Oliver is doing his best and Nora has been/is institutionalised and whilst I accept that she appears to have a heart of gold she is a really bossy moo and that is born out of insecurity.

My child is going to a small school in September, it will be bussed in and if it is any thing like the shite that Jamie had to deal with he will have pack up and eat at home in the evening.

Laughed and laughed at Nora, she is priceless but couldn't help but think that she had planned the meals in order to have the easiest ride possible.

At my DS1's School they have an on-site kitchen and the meals are quite good, parents were given an opportunity to try the meals, DH went and said it was really quite nice. They have recently revamped the menu again and seem to have even less junk on the menu than before. I'm just really glad someone is making an effort at DS1's School however I'm sure every School could do with more funding for this, it is shocking that they are trying to feed children on 37p per day.

The managers in companies like Sodexho and the others that offer a school meal service and the councillors on education committees should be forced to eat the garbage that is served to children. I wouldn't give that stuff (cannot call it food) to a starving cat.

Part of the problem is that these kids can't be expected to want to eat good food at school if all they eat at home is shite as well. Burgers, chicken nuggets, oven chips and fish fingers have their place (once a fortnight at the most often in my house!) but if that is your staple diet every single day and has been since the age of 18 months, of course you're not going to want good, fresh vegetables and real meat. And some of the kids on that programme seemed to imply that that?s all they get at home too.

I can understand it - I went through a phase of feeding my kids that crap for a while because at least they ate it - but there needs to be a huge re-empowerment job done at home as well before kids will be prepared to accept good food at school.

Apparently, towards the end of filming Nora admits on camera that she has been providing the kids with crap for 13 years. I don't blame her - the whole system is stacked against her: kids do not have a varied, healthy diet at home so want to eat what they "know" and she is expected to provide food for 37p a head. I think she's fantastic, and was doing her best against impossible odds. So far, JO, who is an experienced chef, can't provide a decent alternative within budget - what hope did she have?

And I think JO is great, always have. Think what he does is from the heart and he really wants to make a difference. He was so despondent, wasn't he? Hope he succeeds.

Agree though - poor Jools - she must really love him to put up with that shit

Also would be fascinated to have a breakdown of where school dinner money goes - I pay £1.60 a day for ds1: 37p goes on food, where is the other £1.23 going?

TBH I didn't blame Jools for loving him tonight. Anyone who has the courage and passion to walk into a school in Kidbrooke and try and get a bunch of burger-filled teenagers to eat properly, totally unpaid, totally unscripted (because let's face it, we all know it's Nora whose going to walk out of this series with a new career, not JO) deserves every plaudit going, irritating and smug though he may be. I felt a total respect for him for the first ever time this evening (haven't really followed his career before); I can't see Antonio Carlucci, Nigel Slater, Nigella, AWT or Delia (praiseworthy though all of them may be in their own ways) having the balls to go into a Sarf London school kitchen and take on the challenge he has done for no money and possibly no kudos. I would hate to have him as a DH or even as a friend, but as a celebrity chef, he is shit-hot. I really hope he makes some impact with this campaign.

That respect thing happened for me when he did the 'fifteen' series .. and this is another step

can't bear his 'mockney accent' though .. and the 'half a quid a kid' phrase is so f'ing forced

but that's niggling .. its a wonderful campaign and I hope it actually works

my dh knows Nora and he says she is exactly the same in the flesh - very bossy and abrasive.

I thought Jamie Oliver was excellent in this. What a challenge. I hope he succeeds. That food was disgusting and I am so glad dd takes packed lunches. the issue of salt is an interesting one when I should imagine all of the prepacked stuff is full of it. Laughed out loud at JO's tantrums but dd reminded me that I do it all the time because we live on a budget and I can't afford for anything to go wrong in my kitchen either It is truly difficult to provide decent meals on a tight budget but it is not impossible however, educating childrens palates is definitely the biggest challenge JO has. Will continue watching with interest.
Was anyone else shocked by the number of dinnerladies who smoked? Found the smoking more shocking than the swearing.

I lurve Nora

Agree entirely about new-found respect for JO. I liked the Fifteen thing but his mockney muppet persona used to really grate. However, he's the only one (as Caligula says) that is using his celebrity chef reputation to actually do something about the food that real people eat - but realistically - instead of sitting in his £100,000 kitchen and sighing over the plight of the plebs who can't afford to shop at Lidgate's and La Fromagerie.

Still hate the way he spits all over the food though...