Glorious Food? English Schoolchildren Think Not

Rotherham Journal ^ | October 18, 2006 | Sarah Lyall

[Diana in Wisconsin]

ROTHERHAM, England — Five months after the celebrity chef Jamie Oliver succeeded in cajoling, threatening and shaming the British government into banning junk food from its school cafeterias, many schools are learning that you can lead a child to a healthy lunch, but you can’t make him eat.

The fancy new menu at the Rawmarsh School here?

“It’s rubbish,” said Andreas Petrou, an 11th grader. Instead, en route to school recently, he was enjoying a north of England specialty known as a chip butty: a French-fries-and-butter sandwich doused in vinegar.

“We didn’t get a choice,” he said of the school food. “They just told us we were having it.”

The government’s regulations, which took effect in September, have banished from school cafeterias the cheap, instantly gratifying meals that children love by default: the hamburgers, the French fries, the breaded, deep-fried processed meat, the sugary drinks.

[Lx]

Never like Jamie Oliver. It seemed that the Food network was very interested in pushing this guy on us. It seems like he had three or four shows. I haven't seen him lately.

[bonfire]

Loved that show!

[bonfire]

I liked him except he only ever cooked fish. Ever see the British sit-com called "Chef"?

[miss marmelstein]

And now some of their hotels serve Champagne Teas - where, instead of tea, you drink a good champagne along with the scones, jam, clotted cream and cucumber and salmon crustless sandwiches! This thread is making me so hungry I'm miserable.

[Mrs Ivan]

I'll dig them up. :)

[50sDad]

It is none of the governement's damn business what I eat for lunch.

Can you believe that the Nannycrats in NYC want to ban tryglicerides? Not discourage their use, not put up helpful educational ads on the subways....ban them and fine any bar or restaurant that uses them.

A public smoking ban killed a lot of small businesses in my town. What the hell are they thinking?

[Mrs Ivan]

Why thank you.

*curtsys*

[east1234]

Forget about health, their food tastes like $#!^. 130 days of eating that garbage, everything is bland, the meat is tough and tastes like it was aged for months, their potato chips (crisps) are prawn (shrimp) flavored, pizza crust=cardboard. McDonald's cheese burger, bleech! how the hell do they make it taste like that? Baked "Tamatoes" and baked beans for breakfast, Bangers taste like someone was banging them, salad is oddly brown, lots of cold canned corn on that salad bar though. Order crackers, you get some digestive chip thing, order a baked potato w/ cheese, sour creme, and bacon and they act like you're bonkers. So you try a Mexican restaurant, now I've never been to Mexico but sure as hell neither have the cooks in England. So you go to Tesco, or Sansbury (supermarkets) to try and buy something edible. Triscuits? hell no, peanut butter? I learned to smuggle mine in, any cracker that resembles something edible? Ritz, and that's it.
Overweight and out of hope you'll ever lose that extra 60 pounds? Work a contract in England, you'll come back anorexic!

[50sDad]

It is the Law of Unintended Consequences that the Libs can never seem to understand. If you serve some healthy selections in the cafeteria, some kids will choose them. But that is not good enough for the NannyCrats. Instead, they push their agenda, get rid of anything kids like...and kids end up eating buttered french fries in viniger, and ignoring school lunch all together. Pencil pushing morons.

[NonValueAdded]

English cuisine? Talk about your oxymorons! Of course, they could be serving haggis so I suppose the little tykes should be happy with that they get.

[HungarianGypsy]

and then go pick up fast food from the local fish and chip shop.

For some reason reading this thread makes me want to go to my local fish and chip shop. I don't even like fish.

[50sDad]

The Scots have great traditional food.

Haggis and shortbread?

[luckystarmom]

My son's middle school has started having "more healthy food". The only thing is that the school got rid of a student store where they sold snacks. Now, the lines for lunch are extremely long. My son says there's not enough time to wait in line and eat lunch.

One day, I was totally out of food, and I wanted him to buy his lunch. He totally freaked out complaining about how he wouldn't have time to eat.

So, I now make sure we have tons of food for lunch every day.

I don't really mind. I now know what he is eating. Last year, he would go to school and buy Sobes, cookies, and cinnamon rolls. If he wants an unhealthy snack, he just gets it from home.

[Gabz]

Really? Is that for all items?

So far that I've found, and we've been here 3 1/2 years.

I'm even including the grocery store, and I'm paying a 2.5% sales tax on food in Virginia. My grocery bill is still less than when we lived in Dover, and I'm shopping I the same store, Food Lion, as I did there.

I have to go to Maryland to go to WalMart, but the prices are lower than in WalMart in DE, even with MD's 5% sales tax added on.

What most people fail to realize is that Delaware may not have a sales tax you pay at the register and see on your receipt is that DE has a hidden sales tax called the gross receipts tax and it hits supermarkets and retailers particularly hard. Those are high volume, thus high dollar, businesses.............and because the tax is based on the GROSS, not NET, it gets passed on to the consumers.

I was absolutely shocked the first time I went into Food Lion here to buy groceries. Pantry staple items I was used to paying $1.50 for in Dover I was buying here for 89 cents.......that is a major difference. Prices have gone up, but I'm still only paying $1.09.

[Cowgirl]

My husband wants "man'"naise (he always says it like that) on just about everything. It shows. I once listened to a radio program which said mayonnaise was the number one worst food you could eat. That knowledge didn't phase him.
When I'm mad at him I spread it on extra thick. Fortunately for him, I'm pretty easy going.

[HungarianGypsy]

BTTT
Just so I can save this recipe. :-)

[50sDad]

I have to ask, as a Colonial...what the heck is a "digestive biscuit"?

[Tokra]

We didn’t get a choice,” he said of the school food. “They just told us we were having it.”

The poor little darlings. When I was in school, I had a choice: either eat the nasty goulash casserole or go hungry.

[Gabz]

You couldn't get me to eat split pea soup at pistol point. So the discussion is moot. LOL!!!!

[exile]

Fries dipped in Mayo. It may kill you, but what a way to go.