Food for thought at school canteens

Jun 2 2008 by Laura Davis, Liverpool Daily Post

The days of rock-hard chips and soggy semolina have been left far behind. Laura Davis looks at a 21st-century school dinner

BEFORE Jamie Oliver rode in like a knight in shining armour on a powder blue moped, school dinners were the stuff of dieticians’ nightmares.

Far from improving since the frog spawn tapioca pudding of the early days of the welfare state, menus were packed with reconstituted chicken twizzlers, fat-soaked chips and calorific puddings.

A TV series and a couple of meetings with Tony Blair later, and the subject of nutritional food for young people was finally being taken seriously by the Government, local authorities and schools.

But there is still a long way to go. New regulations from the School Food Trust state that it is no longer enough for school meals to include a balance of food groups – from September, they must meet more complicated standards of nutritional value.

This includes providing oily fish, such as mackerel or salmon, at least once every three weeks and bread with no added fat or oil every day.

At Garston Church of England School, where a pilot scheme is being carried out as part of a £2m revamp of school meals by Liverpool City Council and Liverpool Primary Care Trust, dishes on the menu include spring veg and mixed bean pie, cheese flan and red berry Pavlova.

Each one has been analysed by the company providing the meals, Yorkshire-based Duchy Catering, to ensure it meets the new criteria.

“We’ve really had a battle with the parents because some of them can’t see why their children can’t have chips every day,” explains Hannah Kennedy, a reception teacher and co-ordinator of the school council, which has been involved with the changes.

“They’ve got the hang of it now, after seeing how much of an effect it’s having on the children’s concentration.

“The little ones are so much easier to get involved, the older ones are more set in their ways.

“I’ve had one little boy who would only eat fish fingers and chips for lunch, tea and sometimes for breakfast.

“He had a phobia about fruit, but slowly and surely he’s improved and today he’ll eat fruit and vegetables.”

Support from parents in making canteen meals more healthy has varied from school to school, and has not always been influenced by socio-economic background.

“We’ve been getting some schools where parents are very active and some where they are not,” says Julie Davies, a dietician who is assisting the Schools Food Team.

“Sometimes in areas where there is more deprivation, the parents are more interested or it might be that a lot of working parents in more affluent areas are short on time. It varies from school to school.”

The scheme aims to increase the uptake of canteen meals, as often packed lunches prepared by parents are not as healthy as the dishes on offer.

This is particularly crucial in Liverpool, where 20.7% of Year Six boys and 14.8% of Year Six girls (ages 10-11) are obese. The council aims to reduce levels of obesity in 11-year-olds by 2009.

The food team, made up of two primary workers, one for secondary schools and one for special schools, works with catering staff, teachers, children and parents to give nutritional advice and address any issues individual schools may have.

Under the Transforming School Meals Strategy, every secondary school in the city will receive £10,000 to improve both food and dining rooms. It can be spent on dishwashers, cutlery, ovens, art displays or furniture.

Water coolers and fruit vending machines will be offered to every secondary school and salad bars to primary schools.

A cashless payment system will also be implemented in secondary schools to remove the stigma of being entitled to free meals.

The council hopes this will also reduce long queues and will allow staff and parents to monitor pupils’ food choices.

One issue Jamie Oliver has always emphasised is the importance of supporting school catering staff. During his TV series, Jamie’s School Dinners, school cook Nora Sands almost stole the limelight with her blunt, no-nonsense manner.

At Garston Primary, it is cook Lesley Barlow who is on the front line, ready to deal with the pupils’ horrified expressions as they are told chips are off the menu.

“They’re getting there,” she says. “We are in an area where there are a lot of free dinners so a lot of the children are not used to this sort of food.

“They get a choice. There’s always sandwiches on and jackets on and you get a choice of cheese, beans or tuna. They like chicken korma, sausages and mash and believe it or not they love the roast dinner day.”

Lesley, whose mother was a cook at her own school, keeps an allotment and prepares meals at home from fresh ingredients. She is enthusiastic about the changes.

“Look at Thomas. He’s a delight to feed. You can see his happy face, he’s licking his lips,” she exclaims, pointing in the direction of the dinner hall, which is decorated with hand-drawn posters stating: “Don’t be a jerk, have a magic school meal and you will be a star.”

Eight-year-old Thomas McGorian does, indeed, appear to be enjoying his meal.

“I think it’s fantastic,” he says between mouthfuls of curry. “I like vegetables, I like sweetcorn and I also like carrots. I like all of them.”

All the children at Garston Primary have been learning about the benefits of healthy eating.

“Vegetables make your bones stronger,” says five-year-old Chloe Jevons, who has curry around her mouth.

“I eat them all up when I have a big full plate. I don’t like fish, I don’t like the skin. I don’t like tomatoes or sprouts.

“We drink water in the classroom. You just put your hand up and ask.

“I think milk’s the healthiest thing.”

As well as learning about healthy eating, the pupils are encouraged to recycle their apple cores and fruit peelings as compost, which will then be used to grow vegetables.

Becky Bettley-Jones, 9, who is on the school council, explains: “All the classes have a bin that they put paper towels in and fruit they don’t want any more.

“They take it outside and put it in a big bin.

“I already know about growing vegetables because my granddad grows them on his allotment and I go and help him every Saturday and Sunday.”

laura.davis