FRESH, healthy and full of nutrition – school dinners in 2023.

Packaged, processed but full of nostalgia – school dinners in the 1970s and 1980s.

Things have changed when it comes to eating lunch – or is it dinner? – at school.

This week is National School Meals Week – a whole week dedicated to the canteen food on offer to children at lunchtimes across the UK.

Gone are the days of turkey twizzlers and lumpy mash followed by sponge pudding and custard every day.

Sometimes the custard was pink and tasted of strawberry or it was green and tasted of mint!

Youngsters can now enjoy tasty and nutritious meals that are prepared fresh each day with mouth-watering options like chicken curry, spaghetti bolognaise and roast dinner on the menu.

The menus run on a three-week cycle and there is always freshly baked bread, seasonal vegetables and salad followed by fresh fruit and organic yogurt available.

They’re a real hit with hungry children taking a break from the classroom with youngsters in Early Years and Key Stage One entitled to free school meals every day.

But what were school dinners like in days gone by? What do you remember about midday meals when you were growing up?

Here are some of the meals – good and bad - that you remember from your childhood:

• Semolina with a blob of jam

• Cheese flan

• Manchester tart

• Chocolate crunch

• Cheese pie and mash

• Chocolate cake with green custard

• Chips, chips and more chips!

• Pink blancmange

• Jam roly poly

• Turkey dinosaurs

• Fish Fridays

• Cheesy chips, sausage roll and gravy