Yotam Ottolenghi: Theresa May's favourite chef speaks out against plans to scrap free school lunches

Renowned restaurateur joins Jamie Oliver in condemning loss of 'priceless' bonding experience for children represented by proposals outlined in Conservative manifesto

Yotam Ottolenghi (Rex)

Another celebrity chef has criticised the Conservatives' plans to scrap free school lunches.

Top chef and restaurateur Yotam Ottolenghi - who Prime Minister Theresa May has listed as one of her favourite cooks - said it would end the “priceless” experience of children enjoying a hot meal together.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Ottolenghi also revealed that he sometimes sends his children off to school with ham and cheese sandwiches.

The Conservative manifesto outlined plans to replace free school lunches for infants with a cheaper plan to give all primary school children free breakfasts.

Poorer children would continue to receive a hot lunch under the Tory proposals.

Mr Ottolenghi said: “Free everything is good - breakfast, lunch - but there has been a lot of progress made on the lunch front and I believe schools have been serving proper food for lunch since the free lunches have been introduced.

“I think it would be a real shame to lose it because at lunchtimes all students of the school sit together, as opposed to breakfast where it's only just a few.

“Social, communal, a sense of cohesion within the school, but also the idea that people sit round and eat real food.”

Mr Ottolenghi said many families struggled financially to provide their children with proper food all the time.

He added: “At school, if kids are exposed to real ingredients, real cooking, that's a real benefit, and sitting round and eating is priceless.”

Jamie Oliver also criticised the plans last week, calling them a disgrace.

When asked what was in his children's lunch boxes, Mr Ottolenghi said: “I make compromises all the time - often it's a ham and cheese sandwich, because there's no time.”

He did say he would also make his children couscous or ratatouille.

“This is why I am trying to promote the free school lunch, because I have the means, but other people don't have the time to spend preparing a proper breakfast and the school meals really do take care of that,” he said.

Copyright Press Association