SPTC Annual Conference 9th November 2002

The Scottish Parent Teacher Council Annual conference on 9th November 2002 looked at the issue of food in school. It was well attended by about seventy lively delegates.
By Judith Gillespie

Food in Schools - is it glorious?

The Scottish Parent Teacher Council Annual conference on 9th November 2002 looked at the issue of food in school. It was well attended by about seventy lively delegates.

The first session was an open discussion. All but one of the delegates had had school meals when they were children. Their positive memories focused on puddings although one honourable exception remembered roast beef. Amongst their unfavourable memories, cabbage and other vegetables featured large. However, when we fast-forwarded to today's youngsters, only about half of the delegates said that their children took school lunches. Some had very positive experiences, the social benefits were mentioned as well as the fact that school lunches offered youngsters an opportunity to try foods not normally eaten at home. There were mixed experiences on flexibility. One delegate told how her son could get sandwiches and eat them at the school chess club, but another said that the reason her daughter went out of school was because she could not take food out of the dining-room to eat in a social area with her friends. The healthy nature of school meals was discussed - with varying experiences on a spectrum of not at all to very healthy. One poor delegate reported always eating spam because the preferred choices had always run out by the time she got her meal. This led to the consideration of the benefits of pre-ordered meals, although one mother said that her five-year-old could not always remember what he had asked for.

Gillian Kynoch then talked more widely about the need to improve Scotland's health by improving the diet, starting with women's health pre-conception and going on through child and adults years. She highlighted five areas that needed to be addressed, starting with the consumer, going back to the producer and including consideration of availability and manufacture. Although she said that the best way to be interested in food was to get stuck in and prepare it yourself, she acknowledged that most people needed to resort to convenience foods sometimes and then added that there was no reason why these should not be healthy. Small adjustments in manufacturing would reduce salt and sugar intake considerably. Gillian Kynoch talked briefly about Hungry for Success, the report of the expert panel on school meals. This involved a number of Scottish Executive departments - health, social justice as well as education - emphasising the fact that a better diet required changing attitudes across society as a whole.

Questions focused on the problems of the fuel zones in Glasgow which had been set up like fast food burger bars in an attempt to appeal to youngsters. There was also mention of the PPP schools in Glasgow which had been built with small or no dining halls so that the schools could not cope with the numbers at lunch time. Then there was the problem of children being bombarded with adverts for unhealthy foods and of the manufacturers of chips and/or sugary drinks sponsoring school dining halls or vending machines.

Tommy Sheridan talked about his proposals for Free School Meals for all. He viewed it as comparable with the Health Service and said that no one should have any problem with those who could afford to pay enjoying the service as they paid more through taxes. He highlighted the support the proposal had received from health professionals and said that the money was readily available from current funding. Each year since the Scottish Parliament had been set up the Executive had had a surplus which was big enough to pay the £175m needed for free school meals, provide for a contingency fund and still have money over. In a vote at the end of his session, every one bar one indicated support for the proposal. However, in further discussion in afternoon workshops this was pulled back to support for free school meals in primary schools. The logistical problems in secondary schools were considered too massive whilst there was also a feeling that at this stage pupil choice over eating was a very important aspect of growing up.

 

01 Nov 2002