People have rushed to defend a headteacher who revealed she was spat at, threatened and branded a 'food Nazi' for trying to introduce healthier school meals. Julie Copley said she faced huge challenges from parents when she started her bid to introduce more fruit and veg, soups, and casseroles to the primary school's menus.
She said: "I've been called a 'food Nazi', I've been spat at, I've been threatened, my family and staff have been threatened." Despite this, the school has since won an award for its efforts to improve food nutrition at the school.
The shocking abuse the headteacher suffered was revealed at the launch of Walsall director of public health Stephen Gunther's annual report 'Feeding Our Future' at Goscote Greenacres Community Garden. But her determination and hard work paid off after Radleys Primary School became Walsall's first to achieve the silver award in the Food For Life initiative, BirminghamLive reports.
People on social media have been quick to show their disgust for the parents' actions, saying she should be praised for trying to improve the health of children. A commenter said: "Feeding your children constant junk food and ridiculous size portions should be classed as abuse. Years ago there would be the odd one or two obese children at a school, now it's hard to find any that aren't.
"I can imagine that the only reason that the parents don't see how overweight and unhealthy their kids are is because they're the size of a house themselves."
One said: "What kinda thick stupid idiot would threaten the school head for actually providing healthy food. Well done to her. Another commenter added: "You would think parents would want the best for their child."
While a third said: "That's the parents of today for you, they would rather feed their children on cheese burger and chips." And another said: "The answer is simple - if parents don't like the food the school provides for their children, they can give them a packed lunch."
But there was some sympathy for parents who opt for what is perceived to be cheaper options for their children. One said: "There is a misunderstanding here, I think parents are going through financial problems as we all know the economy is not doing great with inflation rising too. Healthy snacks are not cheap, and children end up eating one fast meal a day to stay full. The government needs to hand fruits and vegetables to students to take home as part of a healthy eating campaign."
Pupil's weight was the driving force
The determined teacher said the condition of one pupil helped her stick to her plan to save children she said were being 'killed with kindness' as parents fed them fast food and unhealthy snacks. The youngster whose weight had increased at an alarming rate, was the driving force behind her school's policy, she said.
She said: "We decided we had to do something - we took on a personal coach. He had daily exercise routines, we had 'cook and eat' with mom, we did everything we possibly could do but it was useless.
"He has significant joint problems, is type 2 diabetic, he has significant asthma. Our parents are killing our children with kindness. They equate fast food to love. We felt we had to do something. So I signed us up to Food for Life, who have been incredible. It's not been easy but nothing that is worth anything ever is."
Mrs Copley said problems with parents were prevalent during the two Covid lockdowns with healthy snacks and lunch boxes being rejected. She said: "We ended up with Walsall's fruit and veg mountain. Our parents would come and get their box and they would systematically go through it and pile up the fruit and veg in one pile and cereals in another.
"They'd take some of the tins and then ask, 'can I get a Maccies voucher instead?' We were drowning in fruit and veg. We made soups and casseroles and nobody wanted them. It was a real battle."
After joining the Food For Life scheme, the school made some radical changes to its menu including having 'meat free' days as well as vastly increasing options for vegan and vegetarian children. They have a variety of menus and have linked up with Wintery Lane Allotments in Rushall to get the children connected with growing food and the school is seeing a change in attitudes.
Vicky Hollender, family support worker and Food For Life lead at Radleys, said: "Children were not wanting to try the new menu, even though we took their opinions into account. Our children didn't know how to eat some of the food, didn't know what they were but we stuck with it - even though parents were not happy because they were saying 'I'm not sending my child to school meals because they're not eating them'.
"We kept pushing through and finally our school meal uptake has gone up and our children are enjoying the food." Mrs Copley added: "Everybody likes comfort food, everybody likes a beige platter. However, it keeps coming back to Ben.
"That's the reason we keep head-butting against parents. That's the reason we keep going with what we do. Every time we have somebody barking at me, I see that young man. Not a statistic, not in a report but in front of me. Literally watching him die and it is that serious."
