From lumpy custard to turkey twizzlers, school dinners are always a hot topic of discussion these days. So here's the facts:
A school dinner is a meal which is served to children at school. The school dinners are usually served round about Noon time (12:00pm).
School lunch breaks can vary in how long they last for. Some school lunch breaks may last an hour, some last 45 minutes, others may only last half an hour.
On average, a school dinner costs about £1.55.
In British school children are given the option whether to have either a hot snack or a cold snack for their dinner. Children are also allowed to bring a packed lunch in from home.
School dinners became a big topic in the UK in 2004 when Jamie Oliver, spearheaded a campaign to improve the quality of the meals being served at schools.
Why do children prefer junk food to healthier food?
The obvious answer is due to all the additives and flavourings in many processed foods. But could the way meals are prepared also be to blame? Much effort is now being made to increase the quality of healthy meals. Hopefully with bland looking and tasteless healthy options being replaced with fresh produce and exciting recipes the trends will change for the better.
What effects is this having?
What we eat affects everything: our mood, behaviour, health, growth and even our ability to concentrate.
A lunchtime meal provides one third of a grown child's daily nutritional intake.
By challenging the junk foods served at schools, we can show children that they can still enjoy their dinners, even when it is served fresh and nutritious.
New school dinner standards, means that by autumn all the menus will have to be changed and made healthier for the children.
To make changes like these happen so quick, it is really important that the dinnerladies have our full support.
With our full support, dinnerladies, can start to serve healthy, nutritious food instead of the usual junk food.
Emma Louise Leech
BuyCatering.com Ltd
http://www.buycatering.com
Cooking sensation Jamie Oliver returns with a cookbook designed to delight the entire family! estselling cookbook author Jamie Oliver takes his signature fresh, fun cooking style into new territory by putting his focus on the family. Designed to encourage us to eat healthier meals at home and enjoy our time spent in the kitchen, Jamie's Dinners features over 100 new and simple recipes for easy-to-afford, easy-to-prepare gourmet dinners that will get even the busiest of families back into the kitchen. Jamie's pared-down style and inventive use of fresh, uncomplicated ingredients will ensure that even novice chefs can cook up delicious dinners with confidence and ease using accessible, stylish recipes that the whole family will love, such as Farfalle with Carbonara and Spring Peas and Japanese-Style Saturday Night Steak.