Government Announces New School Food Standards in England After 20-Year Campaign by Jamie Oliver
Chef and campaigner Jamie Oliver has welcomed a government announcement on school food standards, describing it as the culmination of a two-decade campaign he began with his TV series "School Dinners."

Chef Jamie Oliver has praised a government announcement on school food standards in England, calling it "huge" and based on "common sense and science," according to an opinion piece he wrote for The Guardian.
Oliver, who began campaigning for improved school meals more than 20 years ago with his television series "School Dinners," said he was struck at the time that regulated standards existed for dog food but not for meals served to children in schools.
According to Oliver, children in the state school sector spend 190 days a year in school, and for many, the food provided there makes up the majority of what they eat each day if they consume both breakfast and lunch on site.
Oliver cited figures indicating that children are currently consuming less than half the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables while consuming twice the recommended level of sugar. He argued this makes school food a significant opportunity to improve children's diets on a large scale.
While welcoming the announcement, Oliver said it remains important to remember the starting point of the campaign two decades ago, when no formal food standards existed for school meals.
The Guardian article did not provide further details on the specific content of the government's new standards.
Sources
- After 20 years of my school dinners campaign, I’m a happy man. At last, we’re going to feed kids properly | Jamie Oliver — The Guardian — Opinion
EGazette summarizes reporting from multiple sources; follow the links for the originals.
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