Dogs' Dinners

Jamie Oliver exposed the dire state of Britain's school dinners on TV.

The government commissioned a report which says:

The state of many school meals is an indictment of more than two decades of public policy which has in effect stripped nutrients off plates, removed skills from kitchen staff and seen the take-up of school meals drop precipitously.

So, caught out, the government intends to enforce nutritional standards and on-site cooking (even though it will mean building kitchens for many schools - another one-size-fits-all approach), while banning many 'junk' foods.

Very good. But would school meals have got so bad if schools were not controlled by the state, and obliged to direct their attention and resources to satisfying the bureaucracy and politicians rather than children and parents?

Having spent "more than two decades" making a dog's dinner of school meals, the government still thinks it knows best, showing no respect for the freedom of parents to determine what their children may eat. According to the Telegraph:

At first, the standards will cover only the provision of food. By 2011, however, they could be applied to its consumption, which would involve restricting the food children were allowed to bring into school.

Government conceit joined by the heavy hand of an obese state.