Food for thought

01/07/10

Healthy eating in schools is a topic that has dominated the headlines recently, not more so than since the launch of Jamie Oliver’s healthy school dinner campaign. Schools and parents alike have faced criticism for providing children with a choice of unhealthy lunches. In the past week, Oliver’s approach to overhauling school lunches has been slated by health secretary, Andrew Lansley, who commented that people should take responsibility for their own health. Lansley believes that Oliver’s campaign has failed and not had the desired effect, resulting in a decrease of children opting for school lunches that are provided. Oliver has retorted to this comment as being untrue and blames a continuing lack of funds for training of school catering staff.

In a society where we are faced with quick fixes and often unhealthy convenience foods, the focus needs to prominently be on educating children and their families to support them in making the right choices regarding diet. A balance is essential. However, as Oliver revealed when he initially embarked on his campaign, for many families quantity overrides quality and when you have hungry mouths to feed and a lack of funds, the seemingly filling and less expensive foods tend to win. Although Lansley makes a valid point in that people don’t like being dictated to and should have the freedom to make independent decisions, Oliver’s campaign has successfully achieved an increase in government funding, which surely can only be a positive. 

The bottom line however, is that we live in a free society, in which adults and children are entitled to make personal choices. Enforcement leads to rebellion. Educating people is instrumental; it is through this that we can hope individuals make a positive and informed decision towards selecting healthy choices.