The Jamie Oliver effect: school dinner firms feel the cost of parental backlash

Anyone interested in social networking should be aware of Reeds Law and the exponential power of (Group Forming Networks).

Whilst flying to Helsinki this morning, I reflected on GFN's and Jamie Oliver School Dinner Campaign . We blogged about it last year - read here

The Guardian yesterday wrote

The catering company that brought the infamous Turkey Twizzler into Britain's school kitchens yesterday admitted that Jamie Oliver's campaign against sub-standard school dinners had taken a healthy bite out of its earnings, wiping £10m off sales in six months.

The celebrity chef's Channel 4 television series School Dinners has shaken the contact catering industry to the core, leaving steadily retreating revenues and a number of multimillion pound contracts that have failed to attract bidders - despite the promise of more money from the government.

But without Jamie connecting his programme to the Feed Me Better site , which was a blog, a place to register your vote 271677 votes in total and a forum for conversation, and information of how to get involved, the surge of incredulity, frustration and anger, which many parents felt - would not have been activated into such a powerful force for change.

Its what I would describe as participatory democracy According to the Guardian
that participation has resulted with

The government last year responded to Oliver's calls for improved standards, pledging to invest £220m over three years to help schools and local education authorities hire better-trained cooks and elevate school meal standards. It has recommended a minimum of 50p be spent on ingredients for primary school meals and 60p for dinners at secondary schools.

The Department for Education is to introduce a range of food standard improvements from the start of the next school year in September, though caterers will be given two years' grace at primary schools, and three years' at secondary schools, before these measures become compulsory.

And as a consequence many catering firms are shying away from the education sector because they can't make money, with these new guidelines.

So in this instance lets call this GFN - people power.

The Chief Exec of Compass was quoted as saying that

British school dinners were the greatest challenge facing the company, which provides meals around the world from the Pentagon to offshore oil rigs. The caterer was staggered by the level of parental anger sparked by Oliver's television programme, and has blamed the "Jamie effect" for a rise in the number of parents opting out of school meals altogether.

But why should he be staggered? There is clear evidence, that what we eat affects how we perform, intellectually and physically. Not to mention the health issues.

As a community of parents we all want our children to do well, we pay our taxes for the state to provide, in this instance education. Yet, for the sake of profit, and a legacy of cutting back school budgets, the education system and contract caterers have fed our children a junk food diet.

Are we pissed - you bet, and Jamie provided the focus, and the means for us to have our voices heard and action to be taken.

Further reading on the Jamie effect
Parents Laud Oliver over School Dinners
Jamie effect finishes school meals firm
Oliver reheats school food debate

Perhaps the guys at RED , who want to change our attitudes to AIDS, should chat to Jamie about how they could combine what they are already doing with the power of Group Forming Networks?

Comments

[thebizofknowledge]

I stumbled across your blog while I was doing some online research. School systems here in America are only just now beginning to face the fact that school lunches are often high in fat and empty calories. And ketchup is not, I repeat, is NOT, a vegetable.