I have heard the argument that with a fully private healthcare system there is no financial benefit to lobbying/pushing for a healthier society as the healthcare sector can only make money off people who are ill - therefore it comes down to who can afford to shout the loudest at those in charge. I guess until there is a way to profit off prevention rather than cure there will always be this sort of conflict of interests.

This is of course a mute point for this child as Scotland (for now, lets see how the independence referendum goes) is NHS (national health service) based.

And I agree, Jamie's Food Revolution has highlighted this issue very well. The poor attitude toward health seems universal however as one of the most poignant scenes in any of his shows is the one of UK parents passing deep fried fish and chips through the school fence at lunch time!

>> Scotland (for now, lets see how the independence referendum goes) is NHS (national health service) based

Scotland leans left, there's no way the NHS is going even if independence is granted.

That's true, forgot that

'moot' point, not 'mute'. A moot point is a point which is debatable and not final.

Thanks, unfortunate typo.

> where we value money over people's health.

This is sort of a nonsensical statement, as money is simply an external means by which to make such relative comparisons of value between things which are good. Perhaps you meant to assert the accumulation of savings is valued over health related expenditures? Debt levels would suggest otherwise.

Where we value the ability to obtain goods and services over people's health.

Not savings, but purchasing power. Better?

Food, food preparation, medicine, and health treatments\consultations are considered goods and services. Could you give some specific examples of things which can be said to be externally valued by a collective "we" which are neither goods nor services, the principle you are using to measure the collective value of non-goods and non-services, and the operation which allows you to relationally compare the value of non-goods and non-services to the value of goods and services?

My question is: where are the parents in this? I don't know about the UK, but in North America there are few things a school fears more than angry parents. A group of angry parents can rain hellfire down on a school board and principal.

Why is there no outrage that their children are being served slop?

Did /your/ parents know what you ate at school?

I don't know about his school, but every month my kid's school sends a lunch menu home with the "what's happening at school this month" letter. So we do know what he's eating, and by looking at his purchases online it's pretty obvious what he likes.

But to answer the original question you do not know what he is _actually_ eating.

Whatever the lunch menu says he is eating and the actual quality of the food served could differ in the extreme.

Practically the only way you could know this is if the school posted pictures of the actual lunches being served. (Like this kid did)

I commend your school for sending menus however, better than others I have heard of.

Wow. This must have changed from when I was a kid. I never saw such a thing!