I have recently watched a program about how Jamie Oliver is attempting to make our childrens school dinners a lot healthier. I was amazed by his sheer passion, drive and about how determined he was to succeed. As a parent of two children I am very grateful for his efforts.
I remember from the time when I was at school just how disgusting the school meals were. They were so bad that I just could not eat most of what had been served. I would always take extra food in my school bag which I would then eat in the playground after leaving the canteen. This extra food consisted of items such as crisps and chocolate, not exactly healthy.
Nowadays children and parents mainly have a choice of whether to take a packed lunch to school or to eat the meals provided by the schools. During the program Jamie Oliver had a look at what was in many of these packed lunches and to say that he was disgusted was an understatement. He was not exactly shocked however. His plan is to take all of this junk food out of the school diet of children and is hoping with the governments help that the schools will be able to provide a healthy and balanced meal.
The children themselves may find this a bit weird at the start but if the food is good and tasty they will soon get used to it. My son went to a nursery which had a similar policy, he found it difficult to adjust at the outset but soon enjoyed eating his carrot sticks and grapes etc.
I was annoyed to hear about a woman who I think is from Rotherham who did not agree to what Jamie Oliver was trying to achieve. She had a child who attended a school which had already started to adopt these new healthy changes. She was not happy about this and believes that the parents and children should be able to choose what they eat. Each day at lunch time she waited at the school gates with a bag of chips for her child. There will always be the odd few I suppose.
The program ended by showing a meeting between Jamie and Tony Blair. Much to Jamie's surprise and joy, Blair agreed with all of the suggestions and promised to fund the venture at whatever cost. You could see just how impressed Blair had been with the way Jamie Oliver had gone about this mission and about how he had presented it to him. I am sure Tony Blair would like more of his own ministers to show the same amount of drive and passion. Jamie left this meeting a very happy man and the changes are already being implemented accross the country.
I have a new challenge for Jamie Oliver. The food in hospitals is generally very poor, I think that this needs to also change as people who are ill obviously need to eat properly to help them back to full fitness. I await your reply!
