SCHOOL MEALS
Corporate Watch
September 2005
7. Conclusion
'Decent meals give our children a better start in life… We want to see a national, comprehensive school meals service; adequately funded, publicly provided and with staff on fair pay and conditions that reflect their worth.'The 'service' of school meals has been turned into a venue for private sector profit and competition, and distanced from the idea that it was a public service central to the provision of state education as advocated by the architects of the welfare state. Recent public focus on the deteriorating quality of school meals and particularly on the multinational companies providing them in a large number of schools has been a major breakthrough and has forced the issue on the political agenda. However, to really make a significant difference to children's health, and by implication to their education, the government has to look to more radical responses embracing greater regulation, encouraging local and organic sourcing practices at the expense of large, centralised companies, and ensuring a minimum of staff pay and conditions. Health and education will only be best served by policies that prioritise them above a narrow need to ensure competition and 'best value' in outsourced public services. If we want healthy food and healthy children, we need to build a system better placed to provide it.
- Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary[1]
References
[1] Dave Prentis, 'UNISON says tackle obesity at school,' UNISON Press Release 03.02.04 www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=401 (viewed 15.06.05)