So, was Jamie Oliver right?

[silly sausage]

I had chips a lot at school and these habits are hard to break of they're instilled while young. Hence me being on SW all these years later

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Interesting. I went to school dinners for a while in the 70's. It was always meat, veg and lumpy mash. We never had chips, pizzas or turkey twizzlers. I wonder when and why they started serving chips etc. :hmm:

 

[Starlight]

Thats a good point, although it wasnt salad and fruit, at least when we were at school, it was a proper meat and 2 veg type meal you got.

Ultimately though its the parents responsibility to ensure their kids eat properly, people are too quick to pass the buck to other people. My niece is 8 and we were out for dinner recently and she chose the chicken salad and French Bread (from the childrens menu I must add) over the more traditional stuff. She also CHOOSES fruit for her lunch several times a week over sweets and rather oddly, likes Broccoli (strange child ).

Its definitely the responsibilty of the parents more than anything - on a similar note has anyone seen 'Fast Food Baby' on BBC3 - its jaw droppingly shocking

 

[Happy Holidays]

I went to school in the 70's & it was always meat & two veg for lunch followed by some pudding with custard, yummy pink custard

It is interesting to find out when it all changed to chicken twizzlers, nuggets & chips

 

[mommyB]

LOL my kids dont eat a perfect diet and would probably choose ice cream over fruit, but hand on heart they have never eaten a turkey twizzler !!

Sandy I shall look out for 'fast food baby' as I like to be horrified !!

 

[kingleds]

Interesting. I went to school dinners for a while in the 70's. It was always meat, veg and lumpy mash. We never had chips, pizzas or turkey twizzlers. I wonder when and why they started serving chips etc. :hmm:

I went to school in the mid/late 80's & it was rubbish by then - so i'm putting the blame firmly at Maggie the milk snatchers door
My dad refused to let me have school dinners after i complained about them being horrible and as a result to this day i've never eaten chicken nuggets or fish fingers & hadn't even heard of turkey twizzlers til i saw this program!

 

[lsf666]

Interesting. I went to school dinners for a while in the 70's. It was always meat, veg and lumpy mash. We never had chips, pizzas or turkey twizzlers. I wonder when and why they started serving chips etc. :hmm:

I was at school in the early 90's and a bowl of chips was the norm - at 50p they were quicker than queuing and cheap too. I was a really fussy eater and avoided most fruit and veg until diagnosed as anaemic in my early 20's when I saw a dietician who taught me the importance of greens and vit c for iron absorption - Since then I have always had veggies (with the occasional lapses in favour of fast food).

I agree my parents should have taught me but their eating habits are atrocious so I have no problem with celebrities like Jamie teaching children and their parents who just aren't aware (for whatever reason - not just in deprived areas btw)

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[fillymum]

I most definitely am not a Jamie fan. I find him irritating in the extreme.......BUT........... I admire an awful lot of what he has done not just trying to improve children's eating habits and therefore their long term health but what he has done in Cornwall with his 15 restaurant which gives needy kids a second chance.Welcome to Fifteen Cornwall, Watergate Bay, Cornwall

As the golden oldie on here I had my school dinners in the late 40's and through the 50's. The food was balanced, fresh and uninspired !!! Having said that it was good meat and 2 veg with a proper pudding 5 days a week. It was also affordable.

 

[kingleds]

[QUOTE="fillymum"
As the golden oldie on here I had my school dinners in the late 40's and through the 50's. The food was balanced, fresh and uninspired !!! Having said that it was good meat and 2 veg with a proper pudding 5 days a week. It was also affordable.[/QUOTE]

Slightlt off topic but They were still rationing in the early 50's weren't they? Bet you got served up some interesting stuff

I did read somrwhere that the general health of alot of people improved due to rationing.

Good point about affordability as well - having just been shopping today i'm realising how expensive eating healthy can be - just did 2 weeks shopping for
2 of us and it was nearly £130. No idea how my sister feeds 2 adults & 4 kids on £60 a week but somehow she does.

 

[fillymum]

Slightlt off topic but They were still rationing in the early 50's weren't they? Bet you got served up some interesting stuff

I did read somrwhere that the general health of alot of people improved due to rationing.

.

Yes we did have rationing and I still to this day remember that the coupons for sweeties were the letter D and my siblings and I had an allowance each week of coupons to go with our 3d ( old pennies) pocket money and we all went on bicycles with dad to the little sweetie shop to get our ration. I felt so grown up I was about 7 years old at the time.

We were healthier.......dad grew our veg, we had apple trees and cherry trees, raspberry canes and blackcurrant bushes. He raised ducks, chickens and rabbits for the table.We had the eggs from the hens as well.
Our butter ration was taken so seriously it was always served at the weekend with warm home made bread no jam,no meat. We savoured the butter........it was so good.

We ate roasted heart which I remember was a very dense meat and o.k. What I truly hated was tripe and onions cooked in milk.......yuk !!!!! We had to eat it because here was nothing else.
Mum baked every week and made enough for the whole week for 7 of us.
I am rambling like the old lady I am ............... don't start me off on farthings and four sweeties for a penny,an old penny !!

 

[Funky_Munky]

People know how to eat properly - but they don't want to and pass their bad habits on to their kids.

I have to disagree with this. I honestly believe there are people out there who have no concept at all about how to eat healthily or how bad their diet really is. I think the people who take an interest in healthy eating articles/programmes are the people who do it anyway while the rest of the general population don't pay any attention.

I agree in principle with what Jamie was trying to achieve, and as said above, the schools are providing a service for the kids with dinners, they should provide healthier options. I didn't watch any of the programmes so can't comment on how he implemented it. What I will say though is I object to now schools sending letters home to parents telling them off for sending their children to school with what I would consider to still be healthy options in their lunch boxes, but don't meet the schools protocol!

 

[kingleds]

Theres also a fairly salient point here, especially in light of todays news about food prices doubling by 2030. Its all very well telling people they should feed their kids healthy food - but has anyone got any ideas about how to pay for that healthy food? Its undoubtedly more expensive to buy fruit & veg than chicken nuggets & chips. The fact that ex lean mince is currently 3 x the price of standard mince in Asda bears out the fact that eating healthy is expensive. I'm not sure i could afford SW if i lived on an average or below average wage. Sometimes i'm not convinced i can afford it on a above average wage.

Perhaps the government could provide those living on below average wages with vouchers for fruit & veg for their kids. That would be cheaper than the NHS treating their obesity related conditions? They seem to think its their business to tell people what to put in packed lunches, maybe they should do the whole hog!

 

[sweet pink]

Slightly off topic but regarding the lunchboxes on one hand I do think some schools seem to be over the top on what kids can & cannot have but if this rule is in place & one child is always having say chocolate for example then the school have got to speak to the parent (I dont agree with them pulling the child about it) as it is unfair on the rest of the children whose parents abide by what is asked. While some of the lists of cans & can't haves are over the top & bit extreme I think it is in place for a reason. After all a packet of crisps, chocolate bar & fizzy pop might might 'keep a child going' until they come home it is far from nutritious. I know that is an extreme example but unfortunately it might not be as uncommon as you may think if healthy eating policies were not in place.

 

[Mrs.S.]

Perhaps the government could provide those living on below average wages with vouchers for fruit & veg for their kids. That would be cheaper than the NHS treating their obesity related conditions? They seem to think its their business to tell people what to put in packed lunches, maybe they should do the whole hog!

They do offer healthy vouchers to those on certain benefits.

I'm not 100% sure, so please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure the vouchers can be used on Milk, Fruit & Veg and are only accepted in certain stores.

Not certain what benefits are applicable for the vouchers either, but i would imagine it's a very low income threshold, if any income.

Perhaps opening this out to people with children aged under 11 or something that are earning below X amount may be beneficial?!

 

[Mrs.S.]

They do offer healthy vouchers to those on certain benefits.

I'm not 100% sure, so please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure the vouchers can be used on Milk, Fruit & Veg and are only accepted in certain stores.

Not certain what benefits are applicable for the vouchers either, but i would imagine it's a very low income threshold, if any income.

Perhaps opening this out to people with children aged under 11 or something that are earning below X amount may be beneficial?!

Just done a quick google and some info below:

It's a 'Healthy Start' Scheme from the UK government.

From 6 April you can use your vouchers to buy plain frozen fruit and vegetables with your vouchers as well as milk, fresh fruit and vegetables and infant formula milk.
You can’t use your vouchers to buy any fruit and veg with added fat (oil), salt, sugar or any other ingredient like oven chips or seasoned stir frys. If you aren’t sure check the ingredients label to see if there is anything added.

You get £3.10 a week and to qualify, you must be on a means tested benefit (jobseekers, income support to child tax credit with a household income of less than £16,160), and have at least 1 child under the age of 4 or be pregnant. Must also be signed off by your midwife or health visitor.

Interesting stuff. I would have been able to qualify for this for some time, yet it's not something that i have ever been made properly aware of, or have ever been given a leaflet about!!

 

[kingleds]

They do offer healthy vouchers to those on certain benefits.

I'm not 100% sure, so please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure the vouchers can be used on Milk, Fruit & Veg and are only accepted in certain stores.

Not certain what benefits are applicable for the vouchers either, but i would imagine it's a very low income threshold, if any income.

Perhaps opening this out to people with children aged under 11 or something that are earning below X amount may be beneficial?!

Didn't realise they did that to be honest. My sisters never got anything like that and she gets disability & carers benefits as one of her daugthers is disabled. I'll let her know as she kids are always wanting fruit and she can't afford to buy it all the time!

It would definitely be worth the government looking into extending this scheme to those in work but on low pay.

 

[Maximus]

Well, fair play to Mr Oliver - I'm not a great fan, but I loved the idea of him at least having a go. I like to think rather than telling people what they should eat, he told them what they shouldn't eat! - a subtle difference there.

or, maybe my turn to be optimistic?

I'm not a fan of TV chefs (or shows for that matter) apart from the domestic goddess that is Delia - Heston Blumenthal is great value.

My original point for discussion was his attempt at doing something about a situation the government sat back and did nothing about.

Kudos for that, at least.

 

[kingleds]

- Heston Blumenthal is great value..

Oo - don't get me started on that man. He managed to make a half an hour show about what was the best potato to make roast spuds. I spent the whole time screaming 'its clearly maris piper you t^|ser! It says so on the packet!!!

Half a hour later - he decides to reveal that- shock horror- its maris sodding piper. Grrrr

He's on the list of people who are in trouble when i rule the world.

 

[Maximus]

Hey don't dis the Heston.

Besides all of us Tefal Actifry people could have told you Maris Piper rule the world for roasties and chips...It's the law!!

 

[judywoody]

Well, I still prefer jamie to gordon...although I think jamie should stop saying the f-word...he is too old for this now all tv chefs tend to keep gabbing on telly..they need to fill the time....

 

[Funky_Munky]

Theres also a fairly salient point here, especially in light of todays news about food prices doubling by 2030. Its all very well telling people they should feed their kids healthy food - but has anyone got any ideas about how to pay for that healthy food? Its undoubtedly more expensive to buy fruit & veg than chicken nuggets & chips. The fact that ex lean mince is currently 3 x the price of standard mince in Asda bears out the fact that eating healthy is expensive. I'm not sure i could afford SW if i lived on an average or below average wage. Sometimes i'm not convinced i can afford it on a above average wage.

Perhaps the government could provide those living on below average wages with vouchers for fruit & veg for their kids. That would be cheaper than the NHS treating their obesity related conditions? They seem to think its their business to tell people what to put in packed lunches, maybe they should do the whole hog!

I think this is a very fair point, calories in todays market come cheap. For all that most supermarkets do some offers of fruit and veg, it is still mostly the processed fatty c**p that is on offer or just cheaper in the first place. With schools facing increasingly tighter budgets you can understand why healthy food was the first thing to go!!