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For the last year and a half I've been working on a project about school dinners, learning about all the deep and mysterious things that go into the feeding of our nation of kids. Very early on, me and my team became aware of the amazing work of Jeanette Orrey at St Peter's School in Nottinghamshire. I suppose you would call her a local hero, and now that she's been seconded by the Soil Association (the people who help farmers achieve and maintain organic status in their food production - i.e., normal food without any horrible chemicals) she's become a national hero, going round schools and showing dinner ladies the way. If you're a parent buying this book, you might think that changing school dinners would be simple, but oh no - you couldn't be more wrong! On my own school dinners journey I've seen exactly what Jeanette must have had to overcome, which is getting the head teacher, all the other teaching staff, the parents, the kids, the council and the suppliers onside. Not an easy job. It involves patience and creativity, and when coming up against authorities who current systems Jeanette's clearly outshining, you need to be really brave and confident as well, and, quite frankly, only care about the kids. What I also found impressive about Jeanette is that she now spends a lot of her time teaching other schools about how they can change their bloomin' awful rubbish food into her hearty food that's going to make kids healthier and brighter. You probably don't realise how important the example of her kitchen is. Nutritionally these are really dark times in Britain - we're the laughing stock of Europe, healthwise. We need more people like Jeanette - and her headmaster at St Peter's, David Maddison - who are feeding the kids up in those so-important early years so that their bones, immune systems and bodies really do have a better chance. And not only has Jeanette written this book for other dinner ladies, but for home use too. She gives clever constructive recipes (which give quantities for 4 or 96!) so that parents will be able to make simple, nutritious meals for their children. This year I've experienced some truly amazing transformations of children and families, all through food, and yet people still find it difficult to understand that what you put in your mouth can change you so much. Well done, babe. This book is another step to showing people the way. Jamie Oliver |
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