Day 032 - 06 Oct 94 - Page 17
1 those children, namely families take partly on, I think it
2 is called family credit, as opposed to income support.
3 Those on income support are still eligible for free school
4 meals, but those on family credit had their eligibility
5 removed.
6
7 Q. Is one of the indicators of this report that there is a
8 movement as part of the movement towards more cafe style
9 or fastfood eating amongst school children and less eating
10 in school and less nutritional eating in school?
11 A. Yes, indeed, because part of, particularly putting it
12 out to contract, a school's means of providing school
13 lunches did begin to change; they tended to then provide
14 lunches which they felt the children would want to eat,
15 which has become known much more now as the sort of chips
16 and sausage type of lunch. Previously, when they had a
17 requirement or, at least, a recommendation from the
18 Department of Education to provide minimum nutrient
19 contents to their meals, they tended to provide the more
20 old fashioned, meat and two veg type of meal.
21
22 MR. JUSTICE BELL: The took sprouts off the menu, did they?
23 A. Indeed, school cafeterias, particularly in secondary
24 schools, I think you will find resemble fastfood outlets
25 nowadays far more than they used to.
26
27 MR. MORRIS: Unless there is anything else you want to say,
28 I think we can move on from that report. Does this report
29 have any status or was it taken up by official bodies or
30 consumer organisations?
31 A. It has been taken up by several organisations who are
32 attempting to improve the quality of school meals. The
33 Caroline Walker Trust, which is a reputable charity
34 involved in nutrition, produced, two or three years later,
35 a school meals report and has, in fact, a school meals
36 campaigning wing, attempting to co-ordinate lobbying
37 activities to improve the quality of school meals. So it
38 has happened, in fact, in terms of, if you like, consumer
39 action.
40
41 Q. If we move on from that -- I just want to say, for the
42 record, that the Mintel 1985 survey British Market
43 Research Bureau which you referred to -- I will just read
44 it out: "A market research survey showed fastfood to be
45 eaten most often by those aged 15-24, and these young
46 people ate fastfood twice as often as people aged 45-64".
47 We have not been able to get a copy of that.
48
49 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No. Is it impossible to get a copy or do
50 you have one there?
51 A. No, I have not. I am trying to think whether it was
52 possible they had referred to other data.
53
54 Q. What is the source of the summary you have given in your
55 second statement?
56 A. That was my own book which I wrote in 1987 and I was
57 quoting from -----
58
59 Q. So you read the ----
60 A. At that time I must have had that data in front of me.
