Fight against junk food at school

Fight against junk food at school

"Jamie Oliver launches fight against junk food at school

Mon Mar 7,12:28 PM ET

LONDON (AFP) - Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has launched a crusade against junk food served up in school canteens, forcing the government to reassess children's nutritional standards.

The trendy, young cook, who shot to fame with a self-styled television cooking show, urged parents to: "start the revolution in the schools' dining halls".

Hoping to spread the word, he takes over a school canteen in Greenwich, south-east London, in a new television series on Channel Four called "Jamie's school dinners".

The floppy-haired 28-year-old, himself a father of two, is tasked with serving up healthy food at a low price and encouraging some 1,400 pupils to ditch the chips and hamburgers and tuck in.

"Twenty years ago, the government gave up responsibility for the nutrition and dealings with school dinners, and over 20 years the food went down, down, down to what we have now," said the baby-faced chef, who has also written a number of popular cook books and runs a London restaurant.

Some 15 percent of children under the age of 11 suffer from obesity, according to Jamie Oliver's campaign -- "Feed me better".

His campaign, which can be accessed on the web site "Feed me better"
, has published a manifesto and a petition that has already attracted more than 3,000 signatures.

In addition, Jamie has encouraged parents to visit their children's school to see for themselves what they are eating.

And he urged canteen staff to alert pupils to healthy items on the menu, calling on people to petition school heads and their local authorities.

The initiative only started recently, but results have already started to show.

The local authorities in Greenwich have decided to raise the amount of money allocated to school meals to 50 pence per child. Furthermore, processed food has been taken off the menu in 25 schools in the borough and 55 others must follow suit by the end of the school year.

Check out Jamie Oliver's site "Feed me better".

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