Unpleasant Economic Realities..

Teenagers are snubbing healthy school dinners as local takeaways undercut canteens with buy-one-get-one-free deals, according to a study.

And the problem with that is....?

It follows claims that schoolchildren are being driven away from canteen food by the Government's campaign to put healthy meals on the menu.

High-fat and sugary food is now banned, while schools are forced to serve at least two portions of fruit and veg per child every day.

Many schools have been forced to put up costs to pay for more expensive ingredients.

So, you put up costs and decrease customer choice, and people say 'No thanks, I'll go elsewhere' as a result. A valuable economic lesson. But not to this government:

The Government's School Food Trust (SFT) - which promotes healthy eating - admitted that the rise in price was an issue but insisted that parents should be prepared to spend more.

Speaking at a conference in central London, Judy Hargadon, chief executive, said: "We need people to be changing their minds about whether this is important. When computer equipment was terribly important for schools we didn't think of the expense of it, people worked out ways to fund it.

"Each of us who believe in this have to start fighting back about this, they are not unreasonable sums to pay to feed children properly at lunchtime."

The perfect NuLabour apparatchik - her only response is to stamp her feet and whine that the dumb proles just won't do what their betters tell them to..!