YOU'VE got thousands of hungry little mouths screaming "Feed me" in schools without kitchens, but you don't have the cash to build these crucial missing catering facilities.

What do you do?

This is the dilemma facing education chiefs in Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset who have been told by the government that within two years every child who wants a hot meal at school must be given one.

While most secondary and special schools in the area do still have kitchens the vast majority of primary schools do not. Their kitchens were abandoned and redeveloped as additional classroom space when hot meals for juniors were phased out across Dorset some 20 years ago, in line with the government policy of the time.

But far from being downbeat about the problem, schools chiefs are vowing to have hot meals in all schools by September of next year - 12 months ahead of the government's deadline.

The 360-degree turnaround in central government policy follows celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's high profile campaign sparked by his TV documentary about the abysmal state of school dinners.

In Bournemouth, as in neighbouring education authorities, successful pilot schemes have already been running such as those at Winton, Heathlands and Kinson primary schools. Kinson has been serving an average of 120 hot lunches a day thanks to newly installed special microwaves that steam the freshly delivered food.

"We cook it all here," said senior lunchtime supervisor Tracy Kerly. "A few things such as omelettes and casseroles are pre cooked and we warm them up, but vegetables are cooked from scratch.

Pupils at Kingsleigh Primary are also lucky because neighbouring King's High School does have kitchens so children can use the dining room facilities just across the road.

A £280m kitty has been set aside by ministers to be shared between all education authorities in the country to help schools meet the 2008 deadline. However, in reality the three-year funding equates to £230,000 in Bournemouth, £213,000 for Poole and in Dorset £620,000 - nowhere near what is needed to build new kitchens in all the schools that need them.

Chris Maycroft, in charge of Dorset County Council's school meals programme, said: "This is why we are trying to come up with imaginative and creative ways of dealing with this problem. We are looking into delivered meal systems using national and local contractors. But our goal is to produce meals using local staff and locally sourced produce."

The options on the table, he says, are a scheme where frozen meals are re-heated; another takes chilled food to be steam cooked on school premises such as at Kinson Primary; and the third is hot food delivery to schools.

"In reality all three options will probably be used," he said.

A further idea is just about to be tried out at Portchester School in Bournemouth. The current contractor based there is going to provide fresh hot grub to Malmesbury Primary.

"If this trial is successful it will give schools another option to consider within their clusters," said an LEA spokesman.

Parents in Dorset are currently being invited to have their say via the county council website about the options and the prices they would be prepared to pay for their children's lunches.

In Poole, as in Bournemouth and Dorset, trials have been running in two schools.

Michelle Compton, school meals project officer for Bournemouth says that it's crucial to get school's views on the different hot meal services available.

"We have to research the market carefully and look for contractors who are able to offer delivered meal systems, without compromising on quality or nutritional value."

John Nash, strategic director for children's services, said: "The trials so far that have taken place have been very successful with a marked increase in the number of children taking school lunches."

The three local education authorities have pledged to continue working in partnership to find solutions.

Struggling to digest the healthy food message

A BBC News survey of local authorities has found that fewer pupils are choosing to eat school dinners following moves to ban junk food from canteens.

The survey found that about 60 per cent of the 59 local authorities questioned said demand for school meals had fallen. Of those, 71 per cent believed Jamie Oliver's healthy meals campaign was a reason.

But the School Food Trust - set up by the government in 2005 to improve school food - predicted that the downturn would be temporary.

Chief executive Judy Hargadon said: "We expected there to be a bit of a downturn; children are going to have to get used to eating more healthy food at school and it takes a while for them to get used to that.

"Some schools have, however, proved that it can be done and that children really enjoy eating healthy food, so our job is to help people get through this dip."

Children's Minister Parmjit Dhanda said the government was committed to the change.

"I'm not saying that there aren't issues, because there are. But it's still early days," he said.

Irene Carroll, chairman of the Local Authority Caterers Association, said a key problem was that children were not being given healthy food by their parents.

"Jamie hung his programme on school meals. It was a shame because school meals weren't the real problem," she said. "It's what they are eating out of school. We have got to really work hard educating the children on why they should be eating this."

MP Boris Johnson says he now feels vindicated for the comments he made at the Tory Pary Conference in Bournemouth on Jamie Oliver's school dinners campaign.