Channel 4’s Dispatches investigates school dinner issues
Steve Quinn, MD, from Cucina Restaurants, one of the leading companies involved in school catering, has given an interview for the Dispatches programme which will air on Channel 4 this Monday, the 10th September, at 8pm.
The programme surveyed a total of 190 local authorities and 108 academies and found significant differences in the amount that was spent on school dinners, with some taking the step of opting out of hot, daily meals altogether.
Quinn’s company operates 40 chef led restaurants in state schools across the UK, and he was given the chance to share his thoughts on the main issues that are continuing to undermine any real progress in the area of school dinners.
The main one of these is considered to be the government’s lack of close monitoring over nutritional guidelines, which is supposed to be mandatory in every maintained school.
Whilst companies like Cucina continue to invest in a wide choice of quality food cooked ‘from scratch’ at every site, others are opting for cheaper, lower quality bought-in ingredients, to the severe detriment, says Quinn, of good nutrition in schools.
Steve Quinn said: “We are proving that with the right kind of business model, school caterers certainly can present restaurant-quality food in schools. I am delighted, for the sake of the health of future generations, to have been given the opportunity to contribute to this important debate.”
