Come the revolution for St Albans pupils at city centre restaurant

Kids had a smashing time – literally – at a St Albans restaurant last week.

Thirty Year 6 pupils from St Peter’s School visited Jamie’s Italian in Chequer Street on Friday, to coincide with the celebrity chef’s annual ‘food revolution day’.

Sitting around tables, the youngsters were urged to squash excess juice from a healthy range of vegetables in a tea towel, before placing the pounded material between slices of bread.

While they created their colourful ‘squash it sandwich’ they were encouraged to make up chants and generally have a laugh.

Hungry pupils told the Herts Advertiser that bashing their food was “really fun” and that some were trying certain vegetables for the first time.

Year 6 teacher Lesley Wilson said: “It’s good for them to get involved in food preparation, especially as they’ve worked really hard all week as they’ve just finished their SATS.”

After floor manager Franki Nocera, waiter Jamie Thompson and other staff chatted and joked with the children, pupils stood in a line as part of a challenge to pass on continuous strands of fresh spaghetti to each other, without dropping the pasta as it was being made.

The visit was part of Jamie Oliver’s campaign to educate children about food in a fun and engaging way, while teaching them basic kitchen skills.

Earlier this year the star launched a petition to ask all G20 governments to put compulsory practical food education on the school curriculum across the globe.

Jamie is concerned that diet-related diseases are rising dramatically, and that worldwide there are more than 42 million children under the age of five who are overweight or obese.

Close to 1.5 million people from 181 countries have already signed Jamie’s petition, with the likes of Kylie Minogue and Usain Bolt joining the call.