Dame Prue Leith has called for lunchboxes to be banned from schools, arguing that their contents cannot be "policed". The former Great British Bake Off judge, 86, said a "revolution in school dinners" was coming and that she wants to see free school meals for every child.
The chef and restaurateur said she believed these meals should be compulsory for all pupils, forcing parents to ditch packed lunches. Her comments come after it was announced that all pupils in England from families on universal credit will be eligible for free school meals from September.
Why lunchboxes should be banned
On packed lunches, Dame Prue said: "I'm being much more draconian… I think we should ban lunchboxes because you can't police what parents put in. It's very hard if you're a mum walking around a supermarket with your child, and a child wants to have that chocolate bar and whatever in their lunchbox, it's really hard because it's an easy way of sort of pleasing a child, and it's an easy way of almost buying love."
The government has announced the first new school food standards since 2014 in an overhaul aimed at tackling childhood obesity and tooth decay. These include aiming to increase fibre intake by ensuring more fruit, vegetables and wholegrains are on offer.
New school food standards welcomed
Around a third of kids are leaving primary school overweight or obese, while tooth decay is the leading cause of hospital admissions for youngsters aged five to nine. On the new school food standards, Dame Prue said: "It's the first time in my long life of campaigning for better school food that I've actually felt there's a Government that is at least a little bit interested in getting food right in schools."
The chef said there were many benefits to giving children tasty and nutritious food which included good health but the Dame said it could also be an "opportunity for pleasure". She said: "If children eat junk and they don't like healthy food and they're not given healthy food they will not be healthy. But I'm not only keen on learning to like good food for health. I think it’s such a joy and such an interest. I think it's a lost opportunity for pleasure."
Support for school kitchen staff
Dame Prue also said school kitchen staff were undervalued and could teach children about food to help them build confidence around trying new foods. The chef also praised the ongoing efforts to improve school food, referencing the work by the Chefs in Schools charity – co-founders of the School Food Project initiative which offers support to all schools in England.
Bite Back – a food charity set up by Jamie Oliver and involved in the School Food Project – analysed menus from almost 400 state secondary schools in England and found more than three-quarters contained at least one breach of the current standards. Many breaches involved providing burgers and nuggets more often than allowed, according to a report published on Monday.
Dame Prue became a judge on The Great British Bake Off in 2017, replacing original judge Mary Berry. She announced in January that she had left the programme and, a few days later, Nigella Lawson was confirmed as her replacement. She was made a dame in 2021 for her services to food, broadcasting and charity.
