Pupils' verdict on healthy meals

By Marie Jackson
BBC News education reporter

Adam misses crisps, while his teachers yearn for fish and chips Views from the canteen

Chips, chocolate and fizzy pop have been removed from the menu in school canteens across England.

The government says higher nutritional standards will reduce obesity levels and improve behaviour in the classroom.

But how are schools coping and what do the children themselves make of the changes?

"We've got to get 1,000 meals out in 45 minutes so it's not much different to McDonald's. That is apart from the food," says Nigel Jamieson, deputy head teacher of Kingsbury High School in north-west London.

Previously, dinner ladies there were serving about 600 portions of chips a day.

However, since new government guidelines were brought in earlier this month, deep-fried food can only appear on the menu twice a week and two servings of fruit or vegetables are a daily must.

So chips went out, along with Southern fried chicken, veggie burgers, onion bhajis, samosas and chocolate-chip sponge pudding.

Sunflower seeds

Salt mills and bottles of tomato sauce were cleared from the trestle tables while vending machines, now virtually redundant, were emptied of chocolate bars, crisps and fizzy drinks.

In their place came Quorn burgers, tuna, salmon, chicken wraps, potato wedges, pasta bakes and rice dishes.

SET MENU (£1.70) Moussaka Vegetable bolognaise Potato wedges Pasta spirals Peas/broccoli Sultana sponge with custard

Now, for a snack, there are apple-based crisps, raisins flavoured with strawberries, apples or oranges, and the promise of pumpkin and sunflower seeds in the near future.

The children had been forewarned. A newsletter and brochure were sent to parents at the end of the summer term.

And after little over a week sampling the new menu, pupils agree it is not bad but they do miss crisps. For teachers, fish and chips on Friday has been the biggest loss, says Mr Jamieson.

Brittany, 13, misses her weekly chocolate bar, which she feels used to give her more energy, and is not welcoming the prospect of "disgusting" pumpkin or sunflower seeds.

Flavoured raisins are quite popular but they're never going to be as popular as a Kit Kat Ann Rose Catering Manager

But she explains that yesterday's school dinner - a tomato and cheese pasta bake - was all right, although not salty enough and needed extra cheese.

Selina, also 13, who had a big packed lunch with sandwiches, a pear and an orange, yoghurt, and crisps, misses fizzy drinks.

"They used to have non-sugar ones and they were all right."

The pupils also give short shrift to TV chef Anthony Worrall-Thompson's musings - to take away children's choice by giving them a set menu and banning packed lunches.

"They would find a way of taking food in from home. You are not going to search us for an apple," says Justicia, 14.

For catering manager, Ann Rose, whose tough job it has been to orchestrate the changes, there are some things that will never change.

"Flavoured raisins are quite popular but they're never going to be as popular as a Kit Kat."

New ovens

Kingsbury High had already been ahead of the game with healthier options before the government intervened.

"We never served Turkey Twizzlers," says Mr Jamieson.

"The main meal was home-produced and we had already got fresh fruits on the menu.

"We were already meeting two-thirds of the requirements. We have not had as big a challenge as some schools."

Nonetheless, the Department for Education and Skills' announcement in May forced Kingsbury to dip into its capital budget to find £15,000 for two new double ovens.

Brent Local Education Authority matched the money and another two were bought.

We have a heart and mind issue to do with the kids Nigel Jamieson Deputy Head

They were all needed to bake enough hot meals to replace the previously fried offerings.

While it is too early to draw any conclusions from the take-up of school dinners so far, Mr Jamieson believes diet is only one fragment of a healthier school.

"We have a heart and mind issue to do with the kids," he says.

"It is about encouraging them to think about alternatives. We can do this through personal and social education and sports by getting them to consider what a sportsman may need to eat."

Kingsbury is also part of a programme which increases every child's PE quota by 75 minutes.

Mr Jamieson sees the canteen as not far removed from a high street outlet.

"We have to use marketing strategies like the high street. We have to make food attractive to the kids.

"The salad bar take-up has increased. But you only have to pre-box a salad with things they might not like, and you take away their choice, and they won't eat it."