Jamie's School Dinners
| Jamie's School Dinners | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Genre | Documentary |
| Directed by | Guy Gilbert |
| Creative director(s) | Jamie Oliver |
| Presented by | Jamie Oliver |
| Starring | Jamie Oliver |
| Narrated by | Timothy Spall |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 4 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Jamie's Kitchen |
| Running time | 48 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Fresh One Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | Channel 4 |
| Original release | 1 February – 22 February 2005 |
Jamie's School Dinners is a four-episode documentary series broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 23 February to 16 March 2005. The series was recorded between Spring to Winter 2004, in which it featured TV chef Jamie Oliver attempting to improve the quality and nutritional value of school dinners at a typical British school, Kidbrooke School in the Royal Borough of Greenwich — a goal which ultimately led to a broader campaign (called Feed Me Better) to improve school dinners throughout Britain.
At Kidbrooke, Oliver first encountered the school's seemingly fearsome head dinner lady, Nora Sands. Although the two clashed frequently over matters from kitchen technique to workload, Nora eventually became Jamie's most ardent supporter throughout the series and the campaign. Oliver had his work cut out for him: firstly, the daily budget for school dinners was a mere 37 pence per child. Secondly, the students at the school were so used to eating processed junk food (such as deep fried meat products and chips) that Oliver faced a student rebellion when he banned junk food from the school. Thirdly, Oliver's unconventional ingredients and meal ideas startled the dinner ladies, increased their workload dramatically, and exceeded the allocated budget.
After a disastrous start at Kidbrooke, with students refusing to eat and dinner ladies threatening to resign due to overwork, Oliver organised a "boot camp" for dinner ladies in the borough, roping in the catering division of the British Army to demonstrate how to cook large amounts of food quickly and efficiently.
Statistically, the English county of Durham had the highest rate of health problems among school children in the country. Oliver visited a primary school in Peterlee, and realised that part of the problem with getting children to eat healthier food was the food they were eating at home. He visited a young boy's family and convinced them to try a healthier home-cooked menu for a week.
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