It's a scandal...

Would you let your kids eat this stuff? It's hard to believe that nutrition is taken so lightly in this country, or that we're so blase about what we let kids eat. Every week in the supermarket it's frankly quite terrifying to see the stuff that's pitched at children - everything from Barbie spaghetti hoops to the latest branded sweets and crisps. And if that's what they're eating at home, god help them when they get to school...

I've probably linked to this before, but it's so relevant in this case: a comparison of two school lunch menus - one French, and one American.

Mind, I don't remember school dinners being any better as a kid in Cambridgeshire. Granted, I only had them for a year, before my wise mother launched me on a lifetime of sandwiches (generating my cheese and pickle fixation in the process). But I do remember some awful sloppy puddings, and grey mashed potato. Secondary school was no better - it was a cafeteria selling chips, and the legendary giant haystacks (kind of like chocolate krispies, but a lot more dense).