Government food guru backs parents' drive to boost school dinners

Restaurateur Prue Leith, the Government's school dinners czar, has praised a school where parent power has led to a revolution in the quality of lunchtime food.

Parents and staff at John Betts primary in Hammersmith launched a fundraising campaign to build a £35,000 kitchen after becoming concerned about the quality of the processed meals which the children had to eat because there were no proper facilities to cook from scratch.

Nigella Lawson was one of the donors - her children attended the school. Now the kitchen is up and running the 200 pupils are able to enjoy meals cooked on site.

Staff say that since the kitchen opened more children are taking school meals and those that do are enjoying healthy options.

Leith said: "The school is doing exactly what I like to see - parents involved in getting the restaurant upgraded."

She also praised another school in Hammersmith and Fulham for its "fantastic" take-up of school dinners. Langford Primary is the first community school in the borough where all the pupils eat school food.