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Oliver: show was
campaign catalyst |
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is to present a petition with almost 300,000 signatures to the Government at the end of this week. The Feed Me Better petition will call for expenditure of at least 50p a head on school meals and for investment in the recruitment and training of school dinner ladies.
The petition was a response to the broadcasting of the chef's television series, Jamie's School Dinners, which shocked the nation by highlighting the dire state of school meals provision in England and Wales.
In a separate twist, the general secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), Steve Sinnott, also called on the Government to raise spending on school meals this week.
Sinnott used his address to the annual NUT conference to call on the Government to raise the expenditure on school dinner ingredients to £1 a child - double what Oliver has asked for. The current average spend is about 38p.
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 31 March 2005