Pea risotto? Where are my fish fingers and ice cream? - Guardian

Extract:

"Beans, chips and lumpy mash have had their day. Butternut squash and pea risotto, lentil burgers and grated beetroot are now part of the school dinner scene. And five-year-old Gabriel does not approve. "I hate it. On my normal dinner I have fish fingers and ice cream for pudding, but this," he samples the risotto topped with parmesan and pulls a sour expression, "tastes like cheese."

Primary school dinners are turning into gastro-pub lunches, and the young jury is still out. While Islington may be the spiritual home of fancy pub food, its children appear to be sceptical. Thornhill primary school in the north London borough has begun implementing a full gastro pub-style dinner based on dishes offered at the acclaimed Duke of Cambridge organic pub nearby. It's a big change from the pre-Jamie Oliver days of the much maligned Turkey Twizzler.

Since 2004, Thornhill has tried to improve meals within the menu provided by Scholarest, the school catering firm, but in the end it felt constrained by the ingredients. So, with a group named School Meals Matter Islington, a collaboration of parents, governors, teachers and representatives from the pub, the school decided that when the contract with Scholarest expired in September it would take control of its lunches. The Duke of Cambridge put on extra staff to train Thornhill's school dinner lady, Caroline Moore, helped create a version of its menu to suit pupils, and provided links to food suppliers.

The dishes will be put together at a cost of £2 a meal, rather than the average price of about £14 for a main course at the Duke of Cambridge. While this is 50p higher than the average price of British school meals, and 30p higher than the average in Islington, the head teacher, Matt Chappel, said the school hoped that a 70% take-up rate would allow it to lower the price in time."

I'm delighted to see (further down the article) that the firm intention is to make the children's meals lower in salt than adult meals are. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/children.html

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)