This is how much is spent on your child's school dinner (From Western Telegraph)

This is how much is spent on your child's school dinner

Every Wednesday six-year-old Ellis Phillips tucks into a roast dinner in her school canteen.

For the rest of the week she takes a packed lunch because she isn't keen on the menu drawn up by Pembrokeshire County Council.

Although the council revamped its menu last year to reduce processed foods her mother, Joanne, is still not convinced about the dishes served up daily to 12,000 children in the county's primary and secondary schools.

"There are still processed foods available which Ellis just won't eat,'' said Joanne, of Stantwells, Stackpole. "She loves a roast dinner so she always has that on a Wednesday but for the rest of the week she has her cooked meal at home in the evening.''

Pembrokeshire County Council says each school dinner costs £1.93 to produce and it charges pupils £1.45. Of this, 42p is allocated for the cost of the food.

This, reckons Joanne Phillips, is where the problem lies. "You can't blame the school canteens when they have such a limited budget to pay for the food.''

The concerns of parents like her are being taken on board by Pembrokeshire County Council which says it is adopting the most ambitious strategy on school meals yet launched in Wales.

In a joint approach from the county's school, council and health services, a series of initiatives include the phasing out unhealthy food and drinks from vending machines in secondary schools and school site leisure centres by September 2006.

Many primary schools provide and promote only milk, water and fruit already but all primary schools will be required to achieve this by the next autumn term.

Meanwhile, Pembroke Dock Community School has reinforced the principles of healthy eating by launching a salad bar where children can choose five items for their lunch.

Processed foods left on the school dinner menu after last summer's revamp are sourced from local suppliers and are made to the council's specifications on fat, sugar and salt content.

Sian James, cabinet member for Health and Well Being, said Pembrokeshire schools were already doing a good job of providing healthy and attractive meals.

But, she admitted: "We know we can always do better. However, we also acknowledge that this is a wider problem in society and also needs to be addressed by parents and big food manufacturers.''