Could new plans spell the end to the packed lunch?

“I wouldn’t say that processed food, ready meals and even takeaways aren’t relevant to modern life, it’s just that over the past 40 years there are three generations of people who have come out of school and gone through their home life without ever being shown how to cook properly.” -  Jamie Oliver

The days of the infamous Turkey Twizzler are a thing of the past thanks to Jamie Oliver’s campaign on school dinners back in 2005.

But how much has changed in the past eight years?

Well just last week plans were put forward to ban packed lunches and pupils barred from leaving school during breaks to buy junk food under a government plan to increase the take-up of school meals.

The proposal drawn up by John Vincent and Henry Dimbleby, the founders of food company Leon, aims to tackle the poor public image of school meals.

It’s estimated that parents spend almost £1bn on packed lunches but only 1% of them meet nutritional standards.

Plans put in place would also see cooking become part of the curriculum until children are 14 and schools could also offer lessons to parents and their children after school.

So how many children eat school meals at the moment? Well 57% take a packed lunch or buy food outside school.

And almost a fifth of UK children are obese by the time they leave primary school.

Yes the new plans may take the pressure off concerned parents at home who want their children to eat healthily but are also on a tight budget.

But should we deny children the chance to be an individual and get involved in making their own packed lunch? 

That surely is another way of encouraging them to learn about food and its nutritional value.

Did you prefer school dinners or a packed lunch at school? Do you the new plans would help to improve children’s health at school?