October 18, 2006--Meat Pie Mums
Things these days are not going so well in England.
First former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw got into all sorts of trouble by suggesting that Islamic women wearing face-covering veils are impeding their own assimilation into British society—if one can’t encounter one’s neighbor face-to-face, so to speak, it interferes with the normal social interactions that are essential to community building. I say, good try, Jack—this will get the job done: if it weren’t for those darn veils the British would open their arms to their Moslem neighbors. Dream on.
And then, after well-know English chef Jamie Oliver went on a campaign to have junk food banned in the schools, and substantially succeeded, his good work is being subverted by, of all people, the kids’ Mums.
If, as the NY Times reports (article below) that many of the children feel the healthier food is just “rubbish,” to quote one 11th grader, what’s a mother to do? If junior misses his Chip Butty, hold your nose—a vinegar-saturated French-fries-and-butter sandwich, he can count on his Mum to slip one to him through the schoolyard fence. Literally.
The new rules which went into effect in September require schools to provide a minimum of two portions of fruit and vegetables a day, offer fish once a week, remove salt shakers, and eliminate all candy, soda, and snack foods. No wonder the kids are gathering at the fence to get their hands on burgers and fries. At least on Fish Day wouldn't you?
But there is an upside. Some mothers have turned this contraband provisioning into a business, selling this stuff to those kids who have working Mums who are thus not able to show up every day at the schools with super-sized Cokes.
As you might imagine, things have also turned ugly. Many parents are furious about being lectured to by Jamie Oliver and to find their freedoms limited by these new school rules. On the other side of the debate, the transgressive mothers have not only been criticized but they have also been mockingly labeled “Meat Pie Mums.”
So where do things stand? Islamic teachers are not allowed to wear veils in public school; in the spirit of not singling out just one symbol of religious practice, Christian teachers cannot wear crosses and Jews are not allowed yarmulkes or Stars of David; and the kids can’t any longer get their hands on Turkey Twizzlers.
And I naively thought we had problems here with our Evangelical foreign policy and the fact that our students can read or do math and science.
First former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw got into all sorts of trouble by suggesting that Islamic women wearing face-covering veils are impeding their own assimilation into British society—if one can’t encounter one’s neighbor face-to-face, so to speak, it interferes with the normal social interactions that are essential to community building. I say, good try, Jack—this will get the job done: if it weren’t for those darn veils the British would open their arms to their Moslem neighbors. Dream on.
And then, after well-know English chef Jamie Oliver went on a campaign to have junk food banned in the schools, and substantially succeeded, his good work is being subverted by, of all people, the kids’ Mums.
If, as the NY Times reports (article below) that many of the children feel the healthier food is just “rubbish,” to quote one 11th grader, what’s a mother to do? If junior misses his Chip Butty, hold your nose—a vinegar-saturated French-fries-and-butter sandwich, he can count on his Mum to slip one to him through the schoolyard fence. Literally.
The new rules which went into effect in September require schools to provide a minimum of two portions of fruit and vegetables a day, offer fish once a week, remove salt shakers, and eliminate all candy, soda, and snack foods. No wonder the kids are gathering at the fence to get their hands on burgers and fries. At least on Fish Day wouldn't you?
But there is an upside. Some mothers have turned this contraband provisioning into a business, selling this stuff to those kids who have working Mums who are thus not able to show up every day at the schools with super-sized Cokes.
As you might imagine, things have also turned ugly. Many parents are furious about being lectured to by Jamie Oliver and to find their freedoms limited by these new school rules. On the other side of the debate, the transgressive mothers have not only been criticized but they have also been mockingly labeled “Meat Pie Mums.”
So where do things stand? Islamic teachers are not allowed to wear veils in public school; in the spirit of not singling out just one symbol of religious practice, Christian teachers cannot wear crosses and Jews are not allowed yarmulkes or Stars of David; and the kids can’t any longer get their hands on Turkey Twizzlers.
And I naively thought we had problems here with our Evangelical foreign policy and the fact that our students can read or do math and science.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
11:34 AM
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