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 * This is a letter we did in our English lessons responding to Jaime Oliver's Manifesto.**

Thursday 3rd of December 2009 London, England

Dear Mr. Carraway, I am writing to you today to communicate over the big concern that is travelling through many students’ minds. I am Ariela Aviles, president of the Student Council, here in St. Augustine.

I have recently read Mr. Oliver’s manifesto: “My manifesto for school dinners” and I think there are various things to take in account for our schools sake. One of the points I agree with was the one to do with the Dinner Ladies. //Invest dinner ladies with proper training and enough paid hours to cook their food with fresh ingredients.// Mr. Oliver makes an excellent point, because his dinner ladies do not have good cooking skills, who would want to buy their food? If they make good and healthy food, students would actually want to eat from the cafeteria food.

Another point he makes is the fact that it would be a great achievement if every teenager left the school able to cook themselves ten healthy dishes as a basis to feed themselves. If a school could achieve this, their students would become more dependent on themselves and would not have to rely on processed food when they are off to college and live alone. A survey that took place here showed us that 3 in 4 students only bring packets of crisps and junk food to school. A simple menu of nutritious dishes would give the students the basic skills to prepare themselves food with fresh ingredients.

If the school was up for changing the school’s menu and food, change in school may not be enough, but change in home is also necessary for the well being of the students. Many parents are unaware of how much junk food their kids eat; crisp packets and sodas may be a part of their daily diets. They also may not be aware that their kids are not getting the right nutrition for their growth and later on in their lives they could be facing health issues. Iron, calcium and vitamins have a huge positive effect on behavior, concentration and brainpower. Human body’s nutritional needs are highly specific and demanding. The body needs a certain specific amount of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Foods like burgers, pizzas or ice creams do not meet our body’s nutritional needs. So if our kids are eating these kinds of food, if will certainly affect their behavior not only towards school and teachers, but at home aswell. With that said we can say that children not being fed these specific nutrients will have some kind of trouble in their learning skills.

It would also be a good idea to buy cooking equipment for our school, to teach students the basics of cooking. Cooking lessons should not be entirely compulsory. During their Life Skills lessons some kind of cooking would be great, but if the students want to go deeper into the subject, there could be extracurricular classes available for them. One of the points I disagree with Mr. Oliver, is precisely this one. //Making cooking lessons compulsory for ALL students.// Children should be taught the basis of cooking, as I’ve already said, during life skills lessons. A ten week program would be enough to teach 10 different kinds of nutritious meals.

I also don’t think that all teachers should be cookery qualified, some of them could have some kind of cooking skill, but teachers should not be judged based on their cooking skills. Committing to making the school a completely ‘junk free zone’ is, in my opinion, too much. Reducing the amount of crisps and sodas sold should make this better. A ‘no sodas sold during school hours’ campaign is a great idea for health issues. A maximum number of crisps sold in a week, is another proposal to change things a bit around school. Also encouraging our students not to bring junk food into school, but only encouraging them, not making it a matter of taking their food away from them. Showing them the awful consequences that junk food brings, and encouraging them to start eating healthy.

In conclusion I think that St. Augustine’s could use some help in the improvement on the food department. Investing in dinner ladies and in all the equipment for the cookery lessons and in the 10 week plan’s ingredients, is all going to pay back. Students will leave this school being more dependent and not having to rely on junk food for their daily food necessities. Talking to the students about the danger of eating too much junk food will also help them understand the need of healthy eating. I really hope you take time to think this trough Mr. Carraway and take into account some of my suggestions for the well being of our school. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Yours sincerely, Ariela Aviles Student Council President.