Politics and Meals Part II

In December 2013 the results of a study by researchers at Cardiff University was published.  The study monitored the lifestyle habits of 2235 men over a 35 year period.  Five behaviours were shown to be critical to the chance of leading a disease free life, taking regular exercise, not smoking, not becoming overweight, a healthy diet and low alcohol.  Those who regularly adopted four or five of these behaviours experienced a 60% decline in dementia and a 70% fall in diabetes, heart disease and stroke compared with people who followed none.  The lead researcher Professor Elwood said, ‘What the research shows is that following a healthy lifestyle confers surprisingly large benefits to health – healthy behaviours have a far more beneficial effect than any medical treatment or preventative procedure.

 

This is important research, because of the number of participants, the length of the study and the clear results.  Of itself, it also will have little or no effect on people’s behaviour.  To have such an effect you have to catch people early enough, that is to say young children at school.  That is why the Nevis School Meals Programme (SMP) if properly developed could  be of immense benefit.  That is why the Private Initiative (PI), myself, Hastings Daniel and Mark Roberts has been working with the past and present Administrations to boost the programme.  The potential gain is so large and universal that this co-operation has to be non political.  That is important in our divided and divisive island.

 

We in the PI, are impatient.  We consider that neither past nor present Administrations afford the SMP (and its development into a Nevis food revolution) the priority its nature merits.  We have come a long way in the past six years.  Three schools have commercial kitchen equipment, and one of the three has a full scale profession setup.  Many more children are in the programme than were in 2008 and the meals are better and more varied.  We are now at the stage at which, to progress, plans must be made and action taken by the Administration.  It cannot be left as it has been for the PI to make all the running.

 

It may surprise some to learn that Mr. Brantley and I have been exchanging polite emails on the subject of the SMP for the past year.  

 

We met in his office in February 2013, and were told that the Department of Health would be taking over responsibility for the SMP.  I was pleased at this.  I must have said ‘We need a chef to take charge of the SMP’.  Indeed my first communication was on February 5th 2013.  On March 9th 2013 Mr. Brantley (MB) wrote to me ‘…we will be hiring Mr. Henville.  I travel for three days but will finalise when I return’.  On April 2nd I tell MB that Mr. Henville is available immediately and on Budget Day – April 30th ? – he tells everyone that the NIA will be hiring a chef.  Nothing then happens until September when Michael Henville, member of a well known Nevis family, a professional chef and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, was taken on – part time.

 

On November 12th Mr. Brantley wrote to me ‘It has been some time since we communicated.  I wished to get your group’s assessment of whether the past few weeks with chef Michael has assisted in the goal of more nutritious content for meals for our children…’  I replied and enclosed a copy of my article ‘Wellness Month’ which was in part about the SMP.  I had some query requests.  Could Michael be made full time, could the Ministry of Health’s bus – Mr. Perkins – take meals cooked at the CPS to the Special Education Unit, could something be done to sponsor children who come to CPS with inadequate sustenance for lunch so that they can be in the programme, and could we have a competent graduate from the Ministry of Health to survey every child so that we can see what we are up against before starting a breakfast programme.

 

No reply came to this, so on January 11th, 2014 I emailed:

 

‘Two months having gone by here is an update:

Chef Michael remains critical to the SMP.  Your Ministry employs him part time 8.00 am - 1.00 pm five days a week. During this limited time, according to the job description you have required of him that he:

1. Manage Charlestown Primary School kitchen

2. Supervise meals at five other schools located around the island, and raise the quality

3. Arrange courses to improve the cooking ability of the schools' cooks

4. Teach school children to cook

5. Start and run a breakfast programme, one presumes at six schools

 No one could or should expect even the most supercharged individual to get far into this list within five hours a day.  This state of affairs, if it continues, should be brought to public attention.

 

As I think you are aware, Michael is able to take up the Ministry's offered part time appointment only because he is currently able to supplement it by teaching culinary arts for the PEP in the afternoons.  No one knows how long this will continue.

 

Would it be possible for the Ministry to contract with him now, so that as soon as he has finished with the PEP he is on full time with your Department?

 

We have one trained chef available to manage the SMP, and that is Michael.

 

You can't leave a Bank to be run by the tellers, your office to give advice through your typist clerks, or the SMP to be run by the untrained cooks.  No Michael and the SMP risks a gentle slide into oblivion.

 

I chanced upon the Premier about six weeks ago and asked him to take on Michael full time.  "We are working on it", he said.  Has the industry of our Premier borne fruit?

 

Michael's 'office' remains an empty room.  This is not exactly a vote of confidence in the chef and any requirement that he functions properly at all.

 

There are two elements of Michael's job description which cannot work without input from either your Ministry or Education.  He is to teach children to cook.  Which children?  When?  Are these lessons he is to give a part of the school curriculum?  If not, then how will the aim be accomplished?

 

Secondly the breakfast programme.  Who is to be included and at what price?  Are the hours of cooks and Michael, all currently organised for lunches only, to be increased and do their salaries go up in accordance?  At what time will breakfast be served?

 

We spoke yesterday to a senior official in your Ministry.  She told us that the SMP was under Education not Health.  We said this was not so and asked her to check with your PS.

 

In my last email I said that Michael thought that about 30 children of poor parents came to the CPS with a really poor lunch.  We have raised some money to put some 10 or so of these children into the SMP.  Can you do anything?

 

Lastly, what about lunches for the Special Education Unit and possible conveyance of same from CPS via your Ministry's bus driver, Mr. Perkins?

 

So much could be done if the Ministries took action.

 

All good wishes for 2014,

James’

 

On January 23rd MB responds ‘I have noted your several observations and will get a report internally before reverting to you’.

 

I am still waiting for a substantive answer. However on Friday 7th February I went to a cocktail party as did MB. I asked about the breakfast programme and if chef Michael could now be taken on full time.  He replied that anything in the schools was under the Ministry of Education and (pointing towards the Premier) said that he was the man I should talk to.  I was so surprised that I didn’t say ‘You told us in February 2013 that ‘Health’ would be responsible for the SMP’ or ‘It is your Health Ministry that has contracted with chef Michael’, or ‘Why have you then been asking me how the chef is getting on’, if his employment is now under ‘Education’.  Truly I am confused.  Anyway I then spoke to the Premier.  We were joined by chef Michael.  I requested that Michael be taken on full time.  The Premier talked about cost and reductions. I am not a trade union leader for the chef, but I know both as an employee and employer, that you have to give a fair day’s pay if you expect a fair day’s work.  If you act meanly you will build up resentment and you will not get the best out of your employee who may be discouraged enough to leave.  I said this.  I hope that they can come to an agreement.  It is not possible for Michael to carry out all that the Administration and the PI wish him to do in a twenty-five hour week.  I spoke of the need for a breakfast programme, and of the requirement to teach children to cook.  The Premier said he thought that cooking lessons were given in the secondary schools.  I said that in England it was now compulsory that children, aged 11 – 14 were taught to cook, and could we not start in the primary schools.  We have, after all, a full scale commercial kitchen, and a professional chef trained to teach at the CPS.  Indeed, Michael in a letter to PS Education in September 2012 said: ‘My vision is to develop a programme that encourages the collaboration of healthy living at school, at play and at home.  The SMP’s kitchen should be a place where children are welcomed on a regular basis to learn …  I envisage competitions among young primary school chefs,.  I envisage a programme where even the kindergarten child can learn to bake cookies which they may wish to share with their families with much pride in their accomplishments’.

 

‘We can certainly look at it’ said Mr. Amory.  I hope this means more than ‘We are working on it’.  How are you, Mr. Amory and Mr. Brantley, going to break the trend of ever increasing numbers of our population succumbing to diabetes, cancer etc. unless you give top priority to the development of the SMP so that our children can learn about food and how to prepare it, and what you should and should not eat in order to live a healthy life?  At present the lack of co-ordination or interest or knowledge of what is going on at the SMP in the Ministries and by the Ministers is most impressive.  Couldn’t someone just start putting in some serious thought and effort and a small financial commitment?  ‘By their fruits ye shall know them’ – Matthew 7:20.