Parents are giving children unhealthy packed lunches as research has found that only one per cent meet nutritional standards set for schools.
My word. So, umm, who sponsored this research?
Judy Hargadon, Chief Executive of the School Food Trust, said: “Once again, this research highlights why buying a well-balanced school lunch is now the most nutritious choice for children and young people. The Trust’s own research in schools has also found that packed lunches often aren’t as nutritious as school lunches, with many lunches brought from home containing higher levels of salt, fat and sugar.
“Now that nutrient-based standards are in place, parents can be sure that the average school lunch is offering the right mix of energy and 13 nutrients that children need – so we’re encouraging more families to give them a try.\”
Ah, right, producer screaming \”buy our product!\”
Ho hum.
Not really; more like “You vill do as ze State tells you”. The School Food Trust is a quango.
I fear Ian is right, and this leads to demands from all the usual suspects for something to be done ‘for the children!!’
Its registered office is in Moorfoot, Sheffield (the home of whatever the Department for Education is called today).
“The Government’s Food 2030 strategy published by Defra has been welcomed by the School Food Trust”, according to several sources. (Big surprise.)
Presumably these people want us to believe that the one meal a day, for two hundred days out of the year, that are available as school diners actually constitute a significant fraction of a child’s nutrition?
I think we need to follow through more- close all shops and restaurants, and make the only food available school diners. I’m sure some politician will win a landslide on that manifesto!
Quite possible that the R4 Today Programme got something out of context but they were bigging this up – and the two interviewees (both in favour of draconian state action, natch) – on the basis that x% of lunches surveyed contained sweets, crisps and/or chocolate.
“Contained” rather than “was exclusively”. In which case, they can phuque off. There is a case for making a fuss about lunches which are exclusively irn-bru, chip-shop curry flavour crisps and a mars bar, but that is not at all what was being talked about.
Indeed Prue Leith (for it was she) make this quite clear. Quote from memory was along lines of “you can have a chocolate bar on Saturday, but you can’t have one in your lunch box for school”.
Hang them all.