{"id":604292,"date":"2026-04-14T21:55:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/604292\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T21:55:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:55:18","slug":"darren-lewis-it-is-often-a-choice-between-heating-or-eating-in-this-cost-of-living-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/604292\/","title":{"rendered":"DARREN LEWIS: ‘It is often a choice between heating or eating in this cost-of-living crisis’"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the \u00adgovernment\u2019s latest bid to impose healthy eating on our nation\u2019s kids, under new proposals, fruit will replace \u201csugar-laden treats\u201d for the majority of the school week\"Jamie<\/p>\n

Jamie launched his Feed Me Better campaign in 2005. It was shown, 10 years later, to have significantly improved our \u00adchildren\u2019s test results and to have reduced the number of days they were off sick.(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

I blame Jamie Oliver. Not for \u00adanything to do with the Strait of \u00adHormuz or those razor-sharp Lego videos on social media, skewering Donald Trump. Nor the annual Arsenal collapse every time English football\u2019s Premier League title race enters April and May. No. It\u2019s down to Jamie that many schools are one step ahead of the \u00adgovernment\u2019s latest bid to impose healthy eating on our nation\u2019s kids. Under new proposals, fruit will replace \u201csugar-laden treats\u201d for the majority of the school week and schools will no longer be allowed to offer unhealthy \u201cgrab and go\u201d options, like sausage rolls and pizza, every day.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

OPINION<\/p>\n

\"AuthorDarren Lewis<\/p>\n

The thing is, Jamie\u2019s been hammering away at that since before Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer became Director of Public Prosecutions in 2008. Jamie launched his Feed Me Better campaign in 2005. It was shown, 10 years later, to have significantly improved our \u00adchildren\u2019s test results and to have reduced the number of days they were off sick.<\/p>\n

\"Jamie<\/p>\n

Jamie led a march on Downing Street four years ago to protest against a Tory government \u00addecision to delay banning buy-one-get-one-free (BOGOF) offers on fattening junk food(Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

The culture has been in place in \u00adthousands of schools around the country for years. It was Jamie who led a march on Downing Street four years ago to protest against a Tory government \u00addecision to delay banning buy-one-get-one-free (BOGOF) offers on fattening junk food. So yes, the numbers might well currently suggest that more than one in three kids leave primary school \u00adoverweight or obese.<\/p>\n

And yes, the Department of Health does say that tooth decay from high-sugar diets is the leading cause of hospital admissions for children aged between five and nine.<\/p>\n

But in many cases, schools aren\u2019t responsible for that. Certainly not my kids\u2019 school where healthy eating has been policy for many years now. It is at home where for many parents, it is often a choice between heating or eating in this cost-of-living crisis. For others, school for their \u00adyoungsters is actually where the \u00addiscipline is.<\/p>\n

It is at home where the high sugar intake, fizzy drinks, pizzas and processed foods have to be. Why? Because in the real world, sadly, it is cheaper to eat badly than to meet the guidelines we\u2019d all like to follow ideally.<\/p>\n

\"Healthy<\/p>\n

Healthy food prices increased by around 21% from 2022-2024. Trump\u2019s Iran buffoonery will only drive them up further. Parents simply can\u2019t afford it.<\/p>\n

So, of course people will opt for BOGOF options. Of course people will head to cheap chicken and chip shops and burger joints. Why would they not? Early Education Minister Olivia Bailey MP won\u2019t be wrestling with the real-world eating \u00adproblems haunting most UK mums and dads any time soon.<\/p>\n

Healthy food prices increased by around 21% from 2022-2024. Trump\u2019s Iran buffoonery will only drive them up further. Parents simply can\u2019t afford it. Yet our supposedly socialist UK government finds itself unable to join the dots.<\/p>\n

Figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed last month that the number of workers on zero-hours contracts reached a record-high 1.23million. The government doesn\u2019t want to improve the wages of resident doctors, adult social care workers and the very people they want to implement their healthy eating policies \u2013 teachers.<\/p>\n

Yet foot soldiers like Bailey are on Breakfast TV lecturing parents doing all they can to feed their kids at all, let alone in the manner that a government is demanding.<\/p>\n

Critics will doubtless tell me all about meal preparation, smart choices and smart planning \u2013 as if I didn\u2019t grow up on an East London housing estate as part of a family for whom there was no other option. Because the reality is, most parents\u2019 priorities are set by the money they have in their purses or pockets, not by politicians\u2019 aspirations.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

OPINION<\/p>\n

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