[WillowTheWhisp]

There were no vending machines in schools in my day.

There was a school kitchen and a decent meal every day which was "take it or leave it" - we had a choice (as a table of 8) the previous week between two options each day and the choices had to be made in advance for the following week.

The food was varied and there was plenty of fruit and veg. We had no fizzy drinks whatsoever. We had a jug of water per table.

Now my daughters have a "cafeteria" which sells individually priced items from which they create their own dinner. The choices don't sound half as nourishing as we used to get.

Doing away with the vending machines is all very well but as others have said, kids know where the corner shops are and it won't stop them buying something on the way to school or the way home. What they do need to challenge is the school's idea of a nourishing midday meal and bring back the kitchens.

BTW Moorhead does cookery. They just call it "food technology" these days. but I'm not overly impressed by the things my daughtr made. (not her cookery skills - I mean the selection of stuff)

Moorhead is also bidding to become a sports college so you see not all physical activity has been removed from schools either - they still play outdoor games on a playing field which hasn't been taken over by a housing estate.

Unlike A-b and his smoking I would dearly love to be thinner and I make a public apology for offending the likes of Pendy with the uglyness of my appearance. I shall endeavour not to darken the doors of an AccyWeb meeting from now on so that you no longer have to be sickened by the mere sight of me. However, I would like to point out that at no time does fat exude from my body to the detriment of the health of those around me, unlike passive smoking.

I would also like to point out that I know a great many THIN lazy layabouts whose benefit payments come from the taxes paid by hardworking fat people. Not all overweight people are unemployed and not all unemployed people are overweight.