School puddings were served alongside in both state and public schools, giving rise to the historical puddings such as gypsy tart, Manchester tart, spotted dick, Eton mess and treacle sponge pudding.
In the 1980's Margaret Thather's Conservative government ended entitlement to free meals for thousands of children, and obliged local authorities to open up provision of school meals to competitive tender. This was intended to reduce the cost of local-authority-provided school meals, but caused an enormous drop in the standard of food being fed to children. A 1999 survey by the Medical Research Council suggested that despite rationing, children in 1950 had healthier diets than their counterparts in the 1990s, with more nutrients and lower levels of fat and sugar.
UK celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver, took this challenge on head on and launched a campaign to substantially improve the nutricianal quality of school meals. School dinners at state schools during this time had normally been made by outside caterers. The schools sold a lot of deep fried fast food such as chips, fried turkey nuggets, pizza and pies. After a television documentary was shown on (Jamie's School Dinners), the public showed support for the increase of funding for school meals, forcing the government to create the School Food Trust. The topic became a factor in the 2005 UK general elections. Some parents opposed Oliver and the move by government to alter children's diets, and scenes of parents passing hot-dogs and hamburgers through school fences was seen. Nice.
The good news is, my son is at a good school, enjoying good meals and an example of what he gets, thanks to the wonderful Jamie Oliver is this: Salmon fillet with persley sauce and frech creamed potatoes, or spaghetti bolognaise, vegetable risottto, broccoli and cauliflour, sliced wholemeal bread, autmn oaty cake or seasonal fruit salad, fruit drink plus as an additional option, jacket potato, seasonal salad bar, seasonal fruit bowl, fruit yoghurt and water.
