英语随身听:School Dinners 校餐

Is this a healthy lunch for a child?

However, another mother, Susan made her choice based on the nutritious value of the food. She said, “My daughter’s always had school dinners. I think she probably gets better healthier food by having a cooked lunch at school than she would if I made a few sandwiches.”

But how healthy are school dinners? Kaz, a father, wasn’t impressed with them, “Fizzy drinks were offered and I think there were a lot of chips.”

The question of how healthy school food is, was brought to the forefront by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who launched a campaign to improve children’s nutrition, after spending a year working in a school kitchen. The TV series about the campaign won a BAFTA award this week.

He was horrified at the junk food which he saw being served which included burgers, pizzas and chips. So he decided to ban the junk, and started cooking some good stews and curries for the children instead.

So Jamie improved the school dinners in that particular school, and trained the dinner ladies to cook healthy food. Then he put pressure on the government to improve the standards of school food across the country. And it looks like the changes have begun.

Anna, a pupil at a secondary school told us, “We used to have a fast food counter where you got chips and stuff but they stopped that this year. There’s a salad bar, which is good, so it’s healthier than it was.”

GLOSSARY 词汇表 
school dinner 校餐
 cooked meal (热)餐 
packed lunch 自备午餐  sandwiches 三明治 
on the basis of 基于...  a sandwich bar 三明治吧 
nutritious 有营养的  healthier 更为健康的  
fizzy drinks 汽水  brought to the forefront 引起重视 
celebrity chef 名厨
 launched a campaign 发起一项运动 
junk food 垃圾食品  stews 炖肉（菜） 
dinner ladies 餐厅女服务员  put pressure on 施加压力 
fast food 快餐  salad bar 重大打击