School dinners on the increase (From Hampshire Chronicle)

School dinners on the increase

12:10pm Wednesday 30th June 2010 in Education By Rachel Masker

THE number of Hampshire primary school pupils tucking into dinners provided by the local education authority has continued to rise, according to the latest figures.

Take-up rose by 5.5 per cent to 6.2 million school lunches served in the year to April, up 300,000 on the previous 12 months.

But the number of meals is still 13 per cent lower than 2005, the year when TV chef, Jamie Oliver, began his campaign to improve school dinners.

His programmes highlighting how some schools were serving up junk food, such as deepfried potato shapes and chicken nuggets, brought about a dramatic reduction in meal numbers almost overnight.

Pupils had initially snubbed healthier school lunches after every local authority was told by the Government to deliver to a nutritional standard.

But Hampshire County Council school catering bosses say take-up is rising year-on-year and while the average number of meals is lower than before 2005, the gap is closing.

Chips are still on the menu one day per week but there is also pasta, home-made pizzas, roast dinners, chicken wraps, fish, salad and fresh fruit, for example.

The price of a school meal is to be frozen at £2 per day for the next 12 months following a 10p price rise in April, 2009.

Hampshire County Council’s catering service, HC3S, now spends between 60p and 70p per school meal on ingredients.

Locally-sourced food includes Hampshire pork, free-range eggs and fruit and vegetables.

The school meal service in Hampshire, which received a £1.3m government grant, made a £517,000 profit in 2009- 10.

Council leader, Ken Thornber, said around a third of the price of a school meal in Hampshire was used to purchase ingredients and provisions.

“A vast array are from local suppliers and, thanks to smarter purchasing practices, we have been able to deliver savings and secure an affordable price on these quality ingredients,” he added.

“However, the £2 charge for each meal does not cover the total cost of producing a school meal which includes staffing and overheads as well as ingredients, and this is also supported by a government grant.”