Princess Ivy

during the last year and a half, tv chef Jamie oliver set out to change the british school dinner system. he proved that it was possible to provide healthy food at reasoanble cost. Much publicity followed and Mr Oliver was able to get the promise of £280mil from the government over the following three years to support the program. All seemed great.
Last night i watched the follow up program. things have now gone a bit pearshaped. although there was much money invested, spread out it resulted in very little actual difference to the grass roots level, only 6p per child.
Once again Mr Oliver went out to see what had gone wrong. He also managed to start hot meals in schools without kitchens. Again he went to the government to get their aid. once again he got it. as an incidental to the main consessions from Mr Blair, the government have also agreed to start tackling the problem of advertising junk food to children. Of everything i saw, i felt this was most interesting. Parent pressure and campaigns against advertising to children have been going for years. these groups have been trying to bring legislation into line with the rest of europe (most notably scandinavia) with very little sucess.
Kudos to Mr Oliver for the hard work he has put into these issues, but i want to know why it has taken the intervention of a 'personality' with publicity to get the ball rolling. These groups are there, as i said, they even have publicity. Mr Oliver has worked hard, but this has hardly been his lifes work (i don't want to diminish what he is trying to do and accomplished).So why is our world so messed up? why is the work of hundreds of people pushed under the carpet? it sickens me that real problems and issues can be sorted out and fixed, if you have the right profile, and yet, if you put in effort and time you get ignored and pushed into the back ground.
I feel this is a symptom of a larger problem within Britian, and to an extent the rest of the world, right now. reality tv? why spend our money on that when there are millions suffering and dying. We spend thousands on make up and clothing and 'entertainment' per capita per year and yet there are children without clean water. Despite new domestic violence legislation in the UK, women are still living in fear because the police will not act. Ditto on anti social behaviour legislation. there are champions out there, but because they have no 'celebrity' backing, these causes are being ignored.

I'm ranting here, but these issues do affect all of us and i'm good and mad about it all!

Alexa

Reality tv is a pest in my opinion. Damn with them! If you really want to know what happens to the others, all you have to do is to open your eyes and look around you. Why pay a cameraman, reporter or any other person to open their eyes before yourself ?

I didn't finish as my Ce'Nedra requires my attention right now. I'll be back.

__________________
"Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true" (R.W. Emerson)

wyogal

Our school district has a new regulation in place regarding junk food in schools. Milk/yogurt/juice machines replacing soda, limits on school "party" food and fundraisers (that usually sell candy), etc. Home-ec classes need to balance instruction, not as much cake-baking. School lunches are pretty dismal, still, but there are salad bars and other choices available.
It begins at home, though. Too many folks eat fast food crap, opting for white flour, white sugar, white potatoes, high "bad" fat. While on occasion I enjoy pure junk, Big Macs, too many eat this stuff on a daily basis. Then it's no wonder that their children can't make appropriate choices in the lunchroom, they are addicted.

wyogal

not sure legislating behavior is the way to go, though.
Neighbor to neighbor, friend to friend, stranger to stranger: practice kindness and mind your manners. That's what I'd tell the world.

Leto

Same here, junk food is banned from vending machine in school.
Another problem is that junk food is way cheaper than healthy food and/or doesn't require any cooking talent to be palatable.

Jamie Oliver's initiative is a good start but it's not enough, without parent's support and continuation at home it won't stay long.

Princess Ivy

yeah, kids are simply buying the junk in the highstreet and taking it in with them. therefore healthy options in vending machines at school are quite pointless.

Alexa

The education at home is very important. If kids grow up with healty habits at home, it's easier for them to do the same at school, with one condition: it depends on their friends, too.

__________________
"Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true" (R.W. Emerson)

Leto

Yes, but at least they'll have one healthy meal. And from my experience, kids knows were food is tasty and healthy, and tend to get invited to the kid's house with healthy food. I never had problem to convince my friend to stay home for lunch during vacation, but I would never ever have lunch at my best friend's home. Her mother never heard of vegetables and homemade cooking !

Alexa

Hehe, I was not very fond of vegetables and soup when I was a kid. Only mom knows how many times she had to convinve me to taste at least them.

__________________
"Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true" (R.W. Emerson)

Leto

Because you never tasted my granny recipes. She putted vegetables in every dishes (see my second pasta recipes in the other thread), and made them palatable even for the most difficult kid.