School dinners are in a deepening crisis
with a diet of fatty processed foods threatening our children's health.
The government doesn't seem to have the answers, so Jamie Oliver
wants to prove they can be better by transforming what kids
eat at school.
Shocked by what the kids are eating,
Jamie asked nutritionist Ruth Ash to analyse exactly
what is in this processed food and how it's affecting their health.
I had a quick look at the analysis.
The thing that leapt off the plate to me is that there is no fruit and veg there.
So for example, I think there's almost no vitamin C here.
Right.
So vitamin C would be important for their immunity.
So children are more likely to pick up infections
and take time off school ((Wow)).
My problem is, most of the kids
who eat this meal eat this Monday to Friday.
This meal contained about a third to half of the iron that it should.
So lack of iron would affect their concentration in school.
They will achieve less in school.
Let's get this right, the food that we're serving to school is actually
detracting from the possibilities of them concentrating and learning at school.
Absolutely.
And there is no doubt if you achieve
a reasonable amount of fruit
and vegetables in your diet, you can halve your risk of cancer.
Yes, fact.
You cut your risk of coronary heart disease,
of diabetes, of osteoporosis,
all the problems that we as a nation
are paying for through the National Health Service.
They come back to what we're feeding our children.
Jamie now needs to come up with his own 37p recipes
that are healthier.
He's been staring at the cheap
ingredients for over an hour.
God I feel totally uninspired.
I can't work like this
because I have to be inspired to cook, and I don't feel inspired
at all.
Louise,
have you got Google on your computer? Yes.
Can you type in cheap nice curry recipe?
Yeah. See what comes up.
Oh man that looks disgusting.
See that look, scrambled eggs.
That's frozen chicken blood.
To make his recipes useful to school cooks,
he needs to stay within their 37p budget.
Jamie must weigh each ingredient to price up a portion.
This method is the opposite from how restaurant chefs usually work.
I'm so far out of my comfort zone of what I cook and how I cook normally.
Normally we say, "right let's invent something great".
And then you find out how much it costs
and you put 65% on it and you sell it in the restaurant.
That's how all restaurants work.
I'm getting so grumpy.
He decides to try curry
and rice, and a simple focaccia.
He's still having problems with his cheap recipes.
But tomorrow, a thousand South London school
kids are expecting their first Jamie Oliver creation.
It's a bit like taking away David Beckham's
Adidas football boots and giving him a pair of Jesus sandals really.
He'll still kick a few good balls, but he'll run around like a muppet.
And, you know, that's kind of what I'm doing at the moment really.
Will Jamie Oliver rise to the challenge?
Right
what do you want, broccoli, chopped celery or not?
Today, Jamie Oliver will be cooking his own school
dinners for the first time in his life.
He's finally come up with two 37p recipes,
which will be served alongside the usual junk.
Where were you cutting it, so I can learn?
Jamie's making chicken casserole and courgette
focaccia, Italian bread topped with lots of vegetables.
But he's worried the kids won't go for it.
Have you ever tried making pizzas for the students here?
Yeah, we always made our own pizzas.
And did they eat it?
Yeah course they did.
But what about when you put vegetables on it? No.
Thanks. A few would.
Thanks for warning me. What's the name of the bleeding thing?
Chicken casserole. No what's the other thing?
Cabra, no...
what's it called?
((Focaccia)) Why's it...
((Focaccia)) Well I ain't even going to be able to say it.
We need a label!
Stick some labels out, I'm not going to be able to say that.
Focaccia, focaccia.
((Focaccia pizza))
A home-baked pizza we'll call it.
Cooking from scratch instead of opening
boxes, lunch is way behind schedule.
You need to get it up and inside today just because...
Yeah, you can just roll it out.
I need to get, I got some herbs haven't I here?
If you don't have it in the oven
in the next couple of minutes we won't even have a lunch.
What else on here?
Just mozzarella, and a bit pepper.
Monsorella, I never seen no monsorella.
((Mozzarella)) It didn't come. OK.
I've turned into a fucking dinner lady. Why?
I don't know, I'm just starting to feel like one. How's that going?
You forget about the food.
You're more interested in getting the shit out.
I'm worried about bloody well getting it out on time there'll be no sodding dinner.
In the tops of all the ovens or we'll never get done.
Personally I just chuck 'em all in one oven.
Yeah but I want them at the top because you've only got
a quarter of an hour!
Why a quarter of an hour?
Because that's when the service is!
My good god.
Here, I moved that pan down.
I thought it was 1:30.
It's not it's ten to one...
it's ten to one our service!
I thought it's 1:30 it starts. Nah!
I tell you what I'm fucking confused and harassed.
This woman harasses me.
She fucking harasses me more than my wife!
Don't keep opening these bloody ovens.
I'm sorry...
well check where, check where he is.
I've completely disrupted the whole kitchen.
It is but we've already got...
Like fucking anarchy.
I can't even think straight.
Jamie's food's too late for the first customers,
but arrives just in time for the rush.
But will the kids choose Jamie's casserole
and focaccia over Nora's pizza and chips?
What d'you want Danny?
Um could I have potatoes and burger please?
Potatoes?
Yeah. Don't want no chicken casserole then?
No thank you. Apple crumble...
custard chips and beans please.
They're not even asking what it is.
They just want to go, they're almost in a habit.
You watch.
Look down that whole alley.
Smilies and two fish fingers please.
Lovely we got one stew, good boy.
While Jamie is busy serving, Nora gets feedback from his only customer so far.
What was it like? Did you enjoy it? Yeah it was alright.
What? It was alright.
Would you have it again? No. You wouldn't.
You wouldn't have it again.
Do you not want a bit of stew mate?
Don't look at me like that.
It's the visible chunks of vegetables that seem to be
putting the schoolkids off his food.
They've been picking the nutritious courgette off of the focaccia base.
Yeah...
Don't you like that?
((Nah)) But the rest of it is nice. The bread bit is nice.
I can see immediately
why other people are getting it wrong, because I'm doing something wrong.
It's not about quality or family style.
They think that to it.
The junk food quickly sells out,
so the remaining kids have to eat casserole or focaccia.
Jamie thinks his food's gone down well until Nora sets him straight.
If they had picked it in the first place, then we'd have been happy with it,
but they didn't. It's because there was nothing else left.
They just want the cheap shit.
That's what they want.
As a chef
I've never ever had to force-feed 20 covers
just because there was no other choice, d'you know what I mean?
We've probably cracked it today, at the end of the day.
If they'd come in and eat it first ((Yeah)) instead of it being
shoved down 'em. I... god.