Finally, something we can all agree on: children in government-run schools should be fed healthier meals. I say this with confidence because it is a bit like saying "educational standards should be raised" or "children should be discouraged from smoking". Not even a seasoned controversialist would dare voice an opposite opinion, unless hoping to achieve either notoriety or some kind of comic effect.

So British television's Channel 4 was not exactly challenging popular orthodoxy with its just-completed series Jamie's School Dinners in which celebrity chef Jamie Oliver railed at the poor quality of British school food and launched a campaign to improve it.