Policy Plan For School Lunches Announced

NEWS RELEASE FOR 18 MAY 06 | view conference invite pdf

THEY ARE WHAT THEY EAT CONFERENCE

Parents need to take more responsibility for the school lunches of their children, Gillian McKeith announced as she outlined a 3-Step Policy Statement during the keynote address of the ‘They Are What They Eat Conference’ at the University of Warwick Science Park, sponsored by the HTI charitable foundation on Thursday 18 May and supported by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.    Gillian McKeith set out a Plan to tackle the problem of poor food in the school lunch programme.

“It’s time to stop blaming the government, stop blaming the school system.  Instead as parents we need to take responsibility for our children and now become proactive,” said Gillian.

“We can utilise the schools to reach out to the parents.
Parents need to be brought into the school environment and taught about healthy foods and how to better feed their children,” she explained.   “Then we can teach the kids.”

McKeith outlined a 3-Step Policy Proposal:

1. Monthly meetings at the schools for parents to learn about healthy eating from trained nutritional experts;
2. Parents and teachers need to come together to change the curriculum so that healthy eating concepts are brought into the regular teaching of the children. How to take care of your body, how to prepare food and the affect of food on your health needs to be part of the course which every child would be taught.  It would be alongside and just as important as reading, writing and maths.
3. Gillian McKeith’s books and online Personal Health Profiles (www.mckeithinteractive.com) could be made available to every child, parent, teacher and lunch preparer of the school system.

McKeith then asked for volunteers who could help her to launch a new non-profit charitable organisation which would mobilise the parents, teachers, administrators and other parties needed in this plight.   This new charity, Gillian’s Curriculum Project, would educate and lobby for nutrition and food to be taught to the parents and then added to the school curriculum for the children.

“We need teachers, parents and government people to come forward in order to change the curriculum in the schools so that food and food preparation is taught to every child.  This is the way to change the nation now and for the future,” explained McKeith. Christopher Dean, head teacher of Icknield Art College was one of the people from the audience who came forward to help spear-head this campaign.

Gillian said she wants the students to become “like mini-nutritionists”.

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