Government set to focus on school food

The government has reacted to the Jamie Oliver school meal campaign to replace junk food with healthy dinners.

Tony Blair has promised to set up an independent School Fund Trust to build on the work Oliver began in his recent Channel 4 series, Jamie’s School Dinners.

The celebrity chef had criticised the amount spent on children’s food, around 37p a child in some schools, and a petition has been signed by 130,000 people calling for improvements in quality.

Blair said the government was drawing up plans to rebuild school kitchens and give catering staff extra training.

Oliver said he was demanding between 50p to 75p be spent on each child.