James Trevor "Jamie" Oliver,

MBE (born 27 May 1975), sometimes

known as The Naked Chef, is an
English chef, restaurateur and media
personality, known for his food-focused
television shows and cookbooks. He
strives to improve unhealthy diets and
poor cooking habits in the United
Kingdom and the United States.

Jamie's School Dinners

Jamie's School Dinners was a landmark four-episode documentary series broadcast on Channel 4 in
the UK in 2005. The series featured TV chef Jamie Oliver attempting to improve the quality and
nutritional value of school dinners at a typical British school, Kidbrooke School in the London
Borough of Greenwich.

At Kidbrooke, Oliver first encountered the school's seemingly fearsome head dinner lady, Nora
Sands. The two clashed frequently over matters from kitchen technique to workload. Oliver had his
work cut out for him: firstly, the daily budget for school dinners was a mere 37 pence per child.
Secondly, the students at the school were so used to eating processed junk food (such as deep fried
meat products and chips) that Oliver faced a student rebellion when he banned junk food from the
school. Thirdly, Oliver's unconventional ingredients and meal ideas startled the dinner ladies,
increased their workload dramatically, and exceeded the allocated budget.

After a disastrous start at Kidbrooke, with students

refusing to eat and dinner ladies threatening to resign due
to overwork, Oliver organised a "boot camp" for dinner
ladies in the borough, roping in the catering division of
the British Army to demonstrate how to cook large
amounts of food quickly
and efficiently.

Oliver faced a student boycott of his new menu. He produced an

education kit, and recruited children to work in the kitchen,
demonstrating to them exactly what went into chicken nuggets, and
teaching them to identify vegetables.

As the campaign gathered momentum, gaining increasing public

support, Oliver approached members of the government, to
campaign for increased funding for ingredients and staff wages in
school canteens.

The British Government, and Prime Minister Tony Blair promised

to take steps to improve school dinners shortly after the program
aired. 271,677 people signed an online petition on the Feed Me
Better website, which was delivered to 10 Downing Street on 30
March 2005. Certain junk foods (such as the notorious Bernard
Matthews "Turkey Twizzlers" much derided on the show) were
banned from schools by their local borough or county council.

Text extracted from Wikidedia®

Worksheet: Jamie's School meals

Question 1)
Arrange the following sections in the order that they appear in the text

a) Oliver faced a student boycott of his new menu

b) The series features TV chef Jamie Oliver
c) Oliver organised a 'boot camp' for the dinner ladies
d) He strives to improve unhealthy diets
e) The campaign gathered momentum
f) The daily budget for school dinners was a mere 37 pence per child
g) Tony Blair promises to take steps to improve school dinners

Compare with your partner.

Can you think of an alternative word for the words in italics?

Discuss with partner

Question 2)
Look at the following statements are mark with a T if you think they are true
or F if you think they are false.

a) The Dinner Ladies resigned

b) The British Army cooked for the students
c) Deep fried meat products and chips are processed junk food
d) The student like junk food
e) Jamie Oliver was able to quickly improve the students meals

Compare with partner

Question 3)
Answer the following questions about the text.

a) What was Jamie Oliver trying to do?

b) What did the dinner ladies think about it?

c) What changed as a result?

Question 4)
Do you think that the government should be in charge of the school dinners?

Talk in pairs and think of 2 reasons for the argument and 2 reasons against.

Homework
Children should be able to decide what type of food they eat
Decide if agree or disagree and write three reasons for your decision.

Text extracted from Wikidedia®