So, the Jamie Oliver school dinners programme on TV has had at least two positive effects.
OK, three if you wanted to hear how much Jamie swears. Because he does. A lot.
Meanwhile, back to the other two....
1. 50% of schools provide pupils with a meal costing no more than 37 pence.
2. 75% of schools spend no more than 50 pence on their school meals.
That's 37p for ALL the ingredients on the dinner plate.
We also learned from Jamie about two culinary delights that had passed me by till now. Turkey Twizzlers (TM) and Scrotum burgers (generic term)
Scolarest, (part of the Compass Group) which supplies 1,400 state schools, wants 55p a day per child for food, compared with the average of 45p nationally for primaries.
But so far, the Govt. has not agreed any more funds for school dinners.
The Education Minister, Ruth Kelly, refused more funding, saying it was up to parents and schools to agree locally on their budget priorities.
UPDATE : Whoah. Heads UP! The Govt. (Tony + a few sofa friends) has suddenly found an extra £280 million for school dinners after meeting Jamie this week.
Of course, that decision has nothing to do with the plans Jamie revealed - that he was looking at options for standing against Tony Blair in his own constituency of Sedgefield.
Apparently, these plans acquired authenticity when Martin Bell (ex independant MP, ex seasoned War Reporter) confirmed he had been approached by Jamie's team for his advice about standing as an independant .
# posted by Luke : 4/04/2005 11:12:00 pm
