Jamie's School Dinners

The girls and boys on the OV Slimming Club know I am passionate about good nutrition so this series is right up my street!

I hate to see children eating rubbish and drinking bright coloured squash or fizzy drinks, and then see them get in to trouble for behaving badly, don't these parents realise they are feeding these children so many chemicals its no wonder they behave badly!!!!!!

It's on Channel 4 on Wed night at 9pm and shows how bad our school dinners have become, mainly re heating over processed reformed food. Dinner ladies don't actually cook anymore. This coming Wed they feature what is actually in a chicken nugget (its pretty yukky!).

In todays Mail on Sunday You magasine there are some recipes from the women who inspired Jamie.

I know the synics on here will knock him and say well he is making money from this but he does not make as much as you think, he ives much of his time for free and gives up more of his spare time to help his causes than most people realise and I for one think he is a nice guy!

Well done Jamie Oliver!!!![clap]

[luckylady]

I like Jamie
He is passionate about food, and whatever he does he will give 110 percent
Not everybodies cup of tea same as Gordon Ramsey I like them both, yes they make money
But a Lucy said not as much as you think both these chefs believe in what they do
Anyway Jamie's right what they feed our kids at school is rubbish and that's a fact.
Barbara

[Ruth]

I agree totally and think what Jamie is trying to do is fantastic[clap][clap][clap]

[Elaine62]

I've been really quite moved by this series, thankfully my daughter generally takes a packed lunch to school. I went on-line after the show on Wednesday and altho' the site almost went into meltdown, there were so many people trying to ask questions, he did actually answer one of mine.

i agree fervently with one of his points in taht it's only part of a cure by improving the school dinners, until parents take responsibility for what their children eat then the problem will still exist.

There was a bit on it where he was speaking to a consultant at a hospital and it was shocking to find out that there are children regularly being admitted to hospital with vomiting and they are actually bringing up their own faeces (is taht the spelling?) because their body cannot process teh food properly!!

The thing is that food has never been so cheap, years ago a lot of parents spent a lot of money on just basic meat and vegetables, but teh quality of meals that some children are eating has vastly deteriorated.

Last week on teh show one parent said that she knew of a family where the children were given a packet of crisps and a biscuit for tea when they went home and teh only meal they got was at school!!

It's a disgrace.

Now I think I should climb down off my high horse! as I'm supposed to be having a relaxing Sunday afternoon!!

Elaine

[LiesaAnna]

good points about the school dinners!
i send my daughter off with a packed lunch, not a perfect one admitted, but when she has asked to stay to school dinners they are rushed as well as forced to eat food she dosent like, one day she asked for the curry not realising it was lamb curry, so she went without, no one was gonna make her eat that for anything!
we are not fussy eaters (the others are but i love all the vegetables going) so we try and stick to an evening meal that they all enjoy, may have to make 5 different meals but try to keep everyone happy, but if i try to put a bit extra in her lunch box cos we dont have dinner till 6.30 its a long time for her to go without and i dont like her nibbling picky foods, as she then wont eat all her dinner,
they dont have long enough i think for school dinners, 30 mins to eat a dinner and pudding and drink and piece of fruit, they have to rush it also this is the time they have to go the loo and wash hands

[christhear]

I stopped my son having school diners - Chocolate cake and chocolate custard days were his highest, god knows what they put in it. The main course seemed to be very small (1 turkey drummer) and they would try to fill them up with cake. Also my son was always starving when he got home. He doesn't have the most healthy packed lunch, but is far better than the school one. And like someone else pointed out most schools don't actually cook on site.
I must point out though one school I worked at had excellent dinners and they were cokked on site - so you can be lucky.

[chunkichik]

I love the series, as well as educating us as parents the amount of rubbish in school dinners, he makes it entertaining and I think Nora may become a celebrity in her own right!!!

If he was more interested in the money, he could have just made a programme about the state of our school dinners, but instead he is lobbying the government and it appears to be having an effect!!

My two are terribly fussy about what they eat, but they are starting to try things, they take a packed lunch, otherwise they would starve!!!

It is amasing how quickly children will change if the whole family eats the same.

I don't buy biscuits, crips, sweets etc but on Sat the children can chose 1 choclate and one bag of kettle handmade crisps - last week my 7 y/o wanted to try the new Quaker Seasons when I read the list of ingredients they were horrendous, I showed my son and he said "Im not eating all those chemicals"!!!

I wont use any silly sandwich fillings for packed lunches either I make home made ones - have you ever looked what goes into teddy bear ham and the like! Yuk!

Fresh is best[msnwink]

[daxon]

Oh. now you've got me going on my hobby horse!!!
Im passionate about the food children eat - and the way they eat it and I think we have to take a lot of responsibility for the problems we have caused. When I was little we were taken to a restaurant as a treat, an experience - these days kids think that going out to McDonalds and eating with their fingers is a treat! And have you ever been to one of those pubs that has a childrens play area?! Horrendous! "Eat up quick then you can run round & leave the adults in peace"!!!??!!
We took my sisters children to Rick Steins restaurant in Padstow and even the fussiest ate something different - the best compliment of all was a lady who came over afterwards to say what a joy it had been to see children eating so nicely! A colleague of my sisters at school was amazed that we thought it was "worth spending so much on children eating"!!
I think a lot of the problem is school dinners too - eat up quick then out to play! When I was at school (not that long ago!) a teacher sat at each table and we took it in turns to have 'proper'conversation and wo betide us if we didnt at least try to eat what was provided!!
Last week on Jamies Dinners one 'head dinner lady' admitted that she had never even tried a green bean!! I wish you all the luck in the world Jamie!!
Ok, I'll get off my soap box now[msnembarrased]

[CERICROWLEY]

What I would like to know is how do these dinners ladies feed their own families as well, if they don't know how to cook fresh food from scratch.

Ages ago both my children went into school dinners as they had activities striaght after school. I didn't want them to eat a big cooked meal late in the evening, and having it lie on the stomaches all night added to an overweight problem. My eldest is very sensible, she absolutely loves cooked dinners, fresh veg and everything. but as my youngest come into school dinners the menu got worse, Only sausage rolls and spaghetti hoops, pizza, burgers, and some days when they had events on in the main hall they would only have sandwiches available. She would some times come home and be famished,why didn't you have a cooked dinner in school, the reply I got was, they only had enough to keep by for the infants turn and that was all that was left. If my child wants a healthy cooked meal, she should have one. They should BL**DY well cooke more of it then if its in demand. SO I took her out of the dinners and cook at home now. They do not have chips, only as a treat on Friday night.

I has totally gob smacked to see that they didn't know how to cook pasta and rice, With convenience food now more available it is a time saving option, but even in the supermarkets now, they have fresh veg prepared as well. no excuses. I love trying different fruit and veg, some work out some don't but I always give it a try.