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.

Prev Next Index