Sunday 9 January 2011

Food Fascism In Wales

Schools in Wales should ban pupils from buying food outside their grounds, says a major study into school meals.
How?

I mean, we all know why, but how, exactly? Stop them from leaving the grounds?
Schools should make it clear that crisps and a drink is no longer an acceptable lunch, according to the Appetite for Life report.
No longer acceptable to whom?

Frankly, what the kids eat while in school should be the least of the issues schools concern themselves with – getting them to read, write and add up past the level expected from a chimp might be a better use of their time. So no doubt this latest affront to freedom will be kicked into the long grass by…

Ah:
Education Minister Leighton Andrews welcomed the findings.
*sigh*
The researchers, from the University of Bath, said they found that the withdrawal of some unhealthy foods such as sausage rolls or confectionary caused tension among pupils and canteen staff.
Sausage rolls and confectionary are only ‘unhealthy’ if eaten to excess. So no wonder their withdrawal is causing 'tension'...
The report revealed that school food providers were torn between the feeling that this did not make commercial sense when competing with high street outlets.
Well, indeed! Most school food providers are expected to run as a business, and expecting them to do this with both hands tied behind their back by forbidding them to provide food that the children actually want to buy is, naturally, the sort of 'business decision' that only the progressives could think would work!
Some pupils resented the fact that they as consumers were denied the right to choose the kind of foods they wanted.
‘Some’? Only ‘some’? I despair...

Clearly, the rest are going to grow up to be the sort of people who leave the comments that Fuel-Injected Moose draws our attention to on this smoking post.
But Education Minister Leighton Andrews said there was a need for school canteens to be seen as an extension of the classroom and not as competition with high street food outlets.
Just breathtaking. The naked desire for more opportunities to meddle and indoctrinate is on display for all to see.

Among the recommendations from this report are these other (particularly egregious) examples:
Local council 'champions' to work with head teachers to work on issues such as potential tensions around healthy eating in schools
Get the council involved! *slaps forehead* Brilliant idea! If anyone knows about ways to really stick it to the poor benighted souls that pay their wages, it's council employees! Can't see how that could go wrong...
A 'learning dimension' to be part of eating in schools, with staff members appointed by schools to encourage this
More staff (or redeployed staff) for the schools, doing anything BUT teaching English, maths and history. Brilliant once again! Where do they come up with these ideas?
Consider restricting all access to offsite eating
Told you. The kids will be locked up and forbidden to leave the premises. And after that will come random searches to prevent enterprising kids running a contraband tuck shop, I'm sure.

Good grief, have these people completely lost sight of their role?

Oh. Silly question...
Researchers said that canteens should encourage pupils to be more involved in the design of menus and the cooking of food as there is evidence that this could have a positive influences on what is then cooked at home.
They clearly think their role is building the Food Brownshirts of the future, Junior Division.

I hope they've put the NSPCC on standby, for when the inevitable happens when little brainwashed Dai tells mum that she shouldn't be cooking that, and how about some nice healthy apple instead, and she snaps and brains him with a tin of Heinz beans....
They said schools should get help in setting clear boundaries which restrict choice in order to make clear that "a bag of crisps and a drink, or a bowl of plain pasta is no longer an acceptable lunch time meal".
I think it's the parent's role to do that, if that's indeed what they believe. Isn't it?
Jenny Randerson, Welsh Liberal Democrat AM for Cardiff Central succeeded in getting legislation on healthy school food passed in October 2009 but it has not yet taken effect.

Ms Randerson said she hoped this would happen following the findings of the Appetite for Life research.

"I strongly welcome the fact that there is decisive action being taken in relation to school meals.

"Pupils being allowed to buy food outside of school undermines the good work of teachers when it comes to educating pupils about healthy eating. "
Jenny, take a good look at the title of your party. See that word beginning with ‘L’, there? What do you think it means? Likewise the word beginning with 'D'...
"I also think that headteachers will welcome the backing of the government in this area.

"Having visited a number of schools for healthy eating initiatives, I have heard from headteachers who were browbeaten by parents into allowing vendors onto the school site selling junk food.

"This simply undermines the phenomonal efforts of school catering services who are trying to provide healthy options and teachers who are educating pupils about healthy eating."
Which is not their job! And god knows, they aren't exactly making a success of their current job, are they, so why you'd want to allow them to diversify, heaven only knows...

Ah, to hell with it. Wales is finished. Let's dig a big trench around it, fill it with burning oil and forget about it. Until this nonsensical report comes across the border, of course. As we all know it wiill.

17 comments:

Captain Haddock said...

And precisely how many of our English Pounds have already been wasted thus far ? .. and how many more will yet be squandered on this load of old pony ?

"Ah, to hell with it. Wales is finished. Let's dig a big trench around it, fill it with burning oil and forget about it" ...

We're constanly being harangued regarding the disposal of waste & the fact that we're running out of landfill sites ..

Yet there's Wales, with hundreds & hundreds of miles worth of empty, redundant Pit tunnels & galleries ..

I knew I'd find a use for the bloody place eventually ..

Richard said...

Oi! You'll have to deal with me first! (And no, I'm not a benefit scrounger.)

Quiet flows our Don said...

They tried to stop kids leaving a school in the Rotherham* area (which itself you might have thought was a good idea generally) at lunchtime to 'control' their eating. A couple of determined mothers turned up however and passed food through the school railings.

Clearly, the railings were too wide and obviously narrow slits would have prevented such an outrage. I am sure there is a council committee investigating that right now.

*Rotherham has been described by locals as the sausage roll capital of the country. I suspect another council investigation is ready to see why the ubiquitous staple diet of the town's people doesn't feature one. Oh wait... it's unhealthy...

Tim Almond said...

Education Minister Leighton Andrews welcomed the findings.

As someone put it just before the election, there's a fag paper width between the two main parties.

And kids aren't any fatter than when I was a kid. Yeah, there's a few fat ones, but there always were. It's only because of various nonsense like BMI that kids are supposedly fatter (BMI is utter nonsense).

Quiet flows our Don said...

Oops, forgot to say the town's coat of arms should feature a sausage roll. Sorry

PT, Spokesperson on Childcare said...

I am horrified by the tone of this piece. Surely the health of our children who represent the future of our great Nation is far too key to be left in the hands of untrained, uncaring parents! Nutrition is quite key to that health. We have plans also to train teachers in the use of foot gauges to ensure children wear properly-fitting shoes, key to foot health and an active lifestyle. Some teachers will in addition be trained as dental hygienists, to spot signs of abuse of substances like sugar, red meat and other reprehensible dietary choices, as well as evidence of inadequate dental hygiene. Plans are in hand also to train teachers as opticians, as properly corrected vision is so key to eye health and of course learning, and it follows logically from this that we then train teachers to administer hearing tests. A good night's sleep is moderately key to alertness during the school day, and teachers will be appointed to visit each child's house to ensure that he/she is in bed by the required time. (This purely as a temporary measure until dormitories can be built at the school.)
I am sure you will agree that we have only the children's health and best interests at heart, and therefore that you should reconsider your stance and support our initiatives.

Lynne said...

The only appetite I get after reading that nannyist codswallop is to beat some common sense into the interfering gobshites with a bolt studded pick-axe handle. Even if the sense fails to sink it it'll leave a lasting impression on them not to poke their fascist conks where they aren't welcome.

Anonymous said...

or a bowl of plain pasta

A new category of 'unhealthy' food! So, precisely how does adding tomato paste (for instance) convert pasta into a 'healthy' meal?

SpiteK said...

Jesus H Christ, the naked arrogance of these imbeciles is boundless isn't it?

Eat what we provide. Eat what we provide. Eat nothing absent from the sanctiioned list of foods. Eat what we provide. Eat what we provive. If you do otherwise you are stealing from us, who provide healthy food for you. If it is not green it is not healthy. Eat what we provide. Eat what we provide.

JuliaM said...

"I knew I'd find a use for the bloody place eventually "

:D

"Oi!"

You've got all those motorbikes - you can do a Steve McQueen over the trench! :)

"I am sure there is a council committee investigating that right now."

I wouldn't be at all surprised, sadly...

"And kids aren't any fatter than when I was a kid. "

You've hit the nail on the head there - they really aren't.

"...and therefore that you should reconsider your stance and support our initiatives."

:)

JuliaM said...

"The only appetite I get after reading that nannyist codswallop is to beat some common sense into the interfering gobshites with a bolt studded pick-axe handle."

Unfortunately, like cockroaches, thee's too many of them for one-on-one action to be effective, satisfying as it may be.

"So, precisely how does adding tomato paste (for instance) convert pasta into a 'healthy' meal?"

Lord knows. That puzzled me, too! Perhaps the tomato counts as one of your five-a-day?

"Jesus H Christ, the naked arrogance of these imbeciles is boundless isn't it?"

It seems to have got worse since the coalition took over, too...

Feuillet said...

Mr "Spokeperson", I afraid you forget to add the need of regulating parents,for the sake of making them regulate their children in a more efficient way.

Perhaps you too, need some regulating :D

Feuillet said...

"Some pupils resented the fact that they as consumers were denied the right to choose the kind of foods they wanted.

'Some’? Only ‘some’? I despair..."

As a university student who just graduated from high school few years ago, I know how kids (in fact also most adults) nowadays no longer have the vitality or determination to even feel angry towards the shit the authority are shoving to them. Perhaps they feel it is futile? or it is no longer "cool" to do so? I don't know.

All I know is the kids nowadays rarely have the individuality to doubt or critically think, independently of any influence from authority. Some even find it "cool" if one believe in the authorities in a almost irrational manner (not unlike some Christains in the medieval age), such as the UN or the EU which they are propagated all the time in the class room. One can see this when kids talk politics with the tone of "According to the UN "XXX" this is "XXX" " or "According to the *insert left wing media* EU is fucking awesome".

One can now understand why when these kids graduated and go into uni, they became a left winger that lost all their individuality and become a slave soldier for the authority. Authority is now their source of "coolness".

Richard said...

"You've got all those motorbikes"

All = 2 :(

"You can do a Steve McQueen over the trench! :)"

That stunt was done by a man called Bud Ekins, as eny fule kno. Aktualy, if the trench managed to keep out those crazy bikers from the Midlands (the ones who kill themselves and cause all the police activity) than I would probably stay and have all these lovely roads to myself.

Dr Evil said...

We used to go to a tuck shop near my school. We also used to get fish and chips on Fridays. I had bacon and eggs every day for breakfast as my mother believed you need a good breakfast to study well at school. I used to play rugby for my house and other sports too, in season. I was skinny but some would say eating an unhealthy diet with all the bacon and eggs but I'm still alive, reasonable cardiovascular system and I'm not over weight!

Weekend Yachtsman said...

Meanwhile, out in the real world it turns out the whole saturated fats scare was bullshit anyway:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8243950/Saturated-fat-may-not-always-be-harmful.html

Not that the fascists will care much.

Richard said...

I'm reminded of Woody Allen's film Sleeper where, after 200 years, it turns out that chocolate cake was a health food after all. Who knew?