This week will see the introduction of the much heralded new school food standards, there will no doubt be lots of press coverage, ministers looking smug in shiny kitchens, there is even a tea towel! And whilst I won’t be commenting on the actual standards, other than to say on the whole these reforms are to be welcomed, we perhaps should be looking beyond the headlines.
It is worth remembering that these changes, in fact the whole school food plan were initiated by Michael Gove as a result of criticisms heaped on him by Jamie Oliver. Mainly that there should be strong food standards that apply to all schools.
In July 2012 Oliver suggested that while Dimbleby and Vincent would do a thorough job, he could not welcome their inquiry. “Now is not the time for more costly reports. Now is the time for action and that doesn’t seem…
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The Grub Hub 
Hi nicee reading your post
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Hi MEl,Sylvia from sarahjanes endo group.as a nursery nurse I’m horrified by all that sugar these children eat,the challenge however is convincing parents/carers to change the foods the children eat,a lot of the parents/carers say ‘I’m not letting you tell me what to give my child to eat’,so in that regard it’s hard voicing concerns.on a personal note I’m gutted about Cheerios and my orange juice and my flavoured water,good grief sugar coma or what!!!
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Hi Sylvia!
Sorry about the Cheerios but you can but sugar free versions of the flavoured waters too…………
I agree – for people to make changes to their family’s diet, they have to be ready and open to advice. It is quite natural that parents, who know their children the best, assume they know what is best for them but when it comes to diet and health, many are unaware or misinformed. I have delivered a number of workshops at my local nursery centred around healthy eating and fussy eating in under 3’s. More often than not, I have an interested and captive audience who want to learn but yes, the biggest difficulty is working with those that do not want to consider that change is needed and then it’s about how the changes can be made successfully. Of course children haven’t read ‘the book’, so convincing them to try new things can be tricky. There is so much processed food available these days that is specifically targeted at children and it is so much the norm that many children eat it, making it so hard to ‘wean’ them off it. Children are also eating pretty much what their parents are so then it’s about whole-family changes which can seem even more unachievable. Children’s taste preferences for sweet things become reinforced and it can be really hard work persevering to change them. All we can do is keep advising, keep informing and doing our best to encourage parents to make small changes.
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