School dinners

By Hattie Ellis

The Government excluded junk food from school diners in England at the
start of the autumn 2006 school term. We look back at the school dinner
campaign and ahead to future changes planned for school meals.

School food in focus

The battle for better meals in schools was brought to the public eye when ___________ 1
___________ diets in his 2005 television series, Jamie’s School Dinners. The nation gasped as
the cameras filmed classrooms of children who ___________ 2 ___________ recognise a
leek, while the dinner ladies were monotonously opening packets of processed food, rather than
cooking nutritious food from fresh ingredients.

Jamie’s campaign, along with pressure from parents and other pressure groups, led to former
Education Secretary Ruth Kelly’s pledge to put £280m towards school dinners.

The new rules

In autumn 2006, school dinners in England officially excluded ___________ 3 ___________ and ‘low-quality’
meat. School children are now served at least two portions of fruit and vegetables with every meal and deep-fried
food is ___________ 4 ___________.

From September 2007, there will be additional rules in place about what can be sold from school tuck shops and
school vending machines. Schools will not be allowed ___________ 5 ___________ or sweetened drinks. They
must also sell a variety of fruit and vegetable products, such as fresh juices, and must ___________ 6
___________water.

From 2008, primary schools will need to stipulate the vitamin content of school meals; secondary schools will need to
do so from 2009. Also from 2008, pupils at secondary schools in England will be offered cookery lessons, although the
lessons will not be compulsory.

The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Governments are also ___________ 7 ___________ junk food from
school dinners. New plans were put forward to ban junk food in schools by the Scottish Executive in September 2006.
Since 'healthier' meals were introduced, some councils, notably Denbighshire and Glasgow, have reported a decline in
the number of pupils eating school diners. Using high-quality, fresh ingredients can also push up the prices of school
meals.

The state of the nation's plate

Britain has an eating disorder - and it starts young. The number of obese or overweight
children aged 2-15 ___________ 8 ___________ and health experts warn of a time
bomb waiting to explode. Poor diet currently accounts for around a third of deaths from
cancer and heart disease, the major killers in the UK.
Yet, in recent years, bad eating habits have been a routine part of the school day. Spending
on the food for school dinners can be as ___________ 9 ___________, with money
saved by dishing up cheap, processed foods.
The Government's increase in funding has raised this amount to 50p per child in primary schools and ___________
10 ___________.

1. Fill in the gaps with the right sentence.

a. to sell confectionery, savoury snacks (unless they're free from added salt, sugar or fat)
b. were addicted to chips and unable to
c. has spiralled to around 30 per cent
d. restricted to two portions per week
e. developing legislation to ban
f. low as 37p per child
g. Jamie Oliver revealed the shocking state of children's
h. 60p in secondary schools
i. provide access to free, fresh
j. crisps, chocolate, fizzy drinks and ‘low-quality’ meat
KEY

1. g
2. b
3. j
4. d
5. a
6. i
7. e
8. c
9. f
10. h