The government's plan to ban unhealthy items from the school menu is what I call the killjoy option. It will only alienate headteachers and pupils alike, and it certainly does not encourage healthy eating.
A salad bar experiment in Hackney
When I was manager of school dinners in Hackney in 1985, we introduced self-service salad bars at the entrance to the canteens. The main opposition to this initiative came from headteachers who thought that it would be practically unfeasible and probably unpopular. In the primary and secondary schools where we managed to convince headteachers to have a go, the salad bars proved to be a great success.
Pupils filled their plates with salad and had less room for the less healthy items. Examination of food waste at the end of the service indicated that the salad had mostly been eaten.
An unforeseen benefit
There was also an unforeseen benefit. The overboiled cabbage rejuvenated to a livid green by the addition of bicarbonate of soda that regularly contributed a fair share of food waste was replaced by coleslaw with all vitamins and minerals still intact.
Robin Jenkins
Jimena de la Frontera, Spain
Another successful approach
Carshalton Boys Sports College, where I'm a parent trustee, has never outsourced its catering. Our excellent in-house team can tackle the challenge of introducing teenage boys to lentils without the additional pressure of corporate overheads or the profit margin of outsourcing companies. I commend our approach to other schools: you can do it.
Paul Flowers
Carshalton, London
