Jamie Oliver slams school cake and bake sales

Schools are sending out the wrong message to children by holding cake and bake sales, Jamie Oliver’s food foundation has claimed.

In another scathing attack on school food, the celebrity chef has taken aim at the culture surrounding unhealthy food, claiming that salads and other nutritious foods are shunned out of sight.

A report for the foundation said: ‘The culture of high fat and sugary foods used as rewards, in fundraising and in celebrations, is creating social and physical environments that contradict children’s food education.’

The celebrity chef has taken aim at the culture surrounding unhealthy food, and claimed salads and other nutritious foods are shunned out of sight

A staggering 86 per cent of secondary schoolteachers and 85 per cent of primary schoolteachers admitted that their school fundraising activities included cake and bake sales, according to research cited in the report. 

KFC and Domino’s pizza were offered to students if they took part in weekend revision classes in one school, and in another secondary school, doughnuts were offered as a reward to any form which could keep a 100 per cent attendance record.

The report also found that there were still a variety of unhealthy foods on offer at schools, and the schoolchildren were choosing them as they were often cheaper than the healthy alternatives.

The research also lamented the positioning of healthy food in comparison to unhealthy snacks. Marketing tricks deployed by supermarkets, such as putting chocolates and sweets near tills, were also being used by schools.

Meanwhile, salad and healthy options were ‘often in harder to reach places’ or ‘nestled between other items’ or even in ‘a separate place away from the main’, the report added.

More than 80 per cent of both primary and secondary school teachers said that they held cake sales to fundraise

More than 80 per cent of both primary and secondary school teachers said that they held cake sales to fundraise

In a foreword on the report, Oliver himself said: ‘We’ve found that there’s a massive difference between the schools that are doing a great job at delivering food education and those that are struggling.

‘We are alarmed at the concerns raised about the food available, particularly in secondary schools.

‘But at the same time, we are really motivated by the teachers, pupils and parents asking for a healthier school environment.’ 

Oliver’s newest cookbook, ‘5 Ingredients – Quick and Easy Food’, includes a section entitled Sweet Treats, which includes recipes ‘a classic really sumptuous shortbread, drizzled in dark chocolate and grated orange zest’, and other calorie-busting food, such as cherry chocolate mousse made with double cream and caster sugar.

Mr Oliver’s findings come after figures published on Thursday found that childhood obesity is at record levels, with one in 10 children now ‘dangerously fat’ before they start school. 

At one school, KFC and Domino's were offered to children to encourage them to come to weekend revision sessions

At one school, KFC and Domino’s were offered to children to encourage them to come to weekend revision sessions

 

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