Gastropub's organic school dinners strangled by red tape

By Will Davies

CHILDREN at an Oxfordshire Primary School will no longer be served school meals cooked by a nearby gastropub, after Government red tape strangled its healthy food initiative.

In January 2006 only four children at Stoke Row Primary School were signed up for lunches, described by school head Steven McTegart as ‘worse than turkey twizzlers’ and so bad that when inspected by a supervisor, the school was told to stop serving the food.

Desperate to get pupils eating healthily, Mr. McTegart approached celebrity chef Paul Clerehugh, who set up one of the first gastropubs, The Crooked Billett. He has since revolutionised pupils’ eating habits, with tasty, organic, locally-sourced menus, chosen by the children.

In fact he has been so successful, serving 250 meals a week to around 47 regular takers including a 100 per cent uptake by pupils eligible for free meals, he has had to employ extra staff.

But early next year, new legislation will be introduced by central Government, which will put an end to the school’s enterprising initiative.
"We will have to take samples of every meal and freeze them, just in case there are problems down the line," Mr. McTegart told the Standard.
"On top of this, we must send samples from all 15 meals to a lab to be analysed; the paperwork will be enormous."

Mr. Clerehugh says the cost of sending samples to a laboratory could be ‘at least £20,000 a year’ and will cost schools in the county ‘hundreds of thousands of pounds.’ He said: "Although the school pays for every penny of the food, I am still subsidising the scheme, paying wages for two staff and their accommodation.

"The Crooked Billet may be well-known in the area, but it is still a small business and cannot afford the extra outlay. We would have to have every ingredient analysed — over 500 — and not for toxins, but so the nanny state can analyse the nutritional value to see if it is correct, and I’ve got to pay for that."

Under the new rules, the pub is also prohibited from cooking any processed food, and fruit puddings must contain a minimum 45 per cent fruit, leaving Mr. Clerehugh perplexed and frustrated as many of the locally-sourced, affordable food items he uses to make the scheme financially viable fall under the banner of ‘processed’.

He added: "This stupid legislation takes a wonderful school, running a hugely successful, healthy scheme and says they can no longer eat local, organic pork sausages, minced meat or honey-sweetened flapjacks with fresh raisins. But I can give them ‘Caribbean fish’ or tinned fruit. It’s really pushed us into a corner."

Mr. Clerehugh, a consultant on Jamie Oliver’s Channel 4 programme School Dinners, argues that if a school opts out of council provision, it should be able to devise its own ‘common sense menu’. He added: "When the district council did the lunches, which consisted of tinned ham, tinned potatoes and tinned carrots, the children slept in the afternoon and there were accidents in the playground.

"With our meals, they are alert all day as their blood sugar levels are balanced and correct. This is a small school with no funds and I want to carry on if I can. If any readers can help, or come up with suggestions or legal loop-holes, please get in touch."

The school says it is currently in negotiations with a number of school catering companies to fill the void, but from next term children ‘may have to bring in sandwiches’, including those eligible for free meals.