The Nation's favourite dinner lady, Jeanette Orrey, came to Monmouthshire on Monday, to help with the county's Better School Dinners initiative.

A pioneer in transforming school dinners, she was the inspiration behind Monmouthshire's move to put healthier, locally produced food on the menu.

Long before Jamie Oliver took issue with the Turkey Twizzler, Jeanette was the keynote speaker at a conference, organised by the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which cooked up the idea for the Better School Dinners working party and the current Monmouthshire pilot. Sandy Greenslade, food projects officer for adventa, one of the partners involved in the pilot project, said last week: "All of us involved in the pilot are keen to hear more hot tips for winning over children's taste buds to fresh meat and vegetables. We have made good use of Jeanette's book The Dinner Lady and children involved in our pilot are already wolfing down many of her recipes, so we are eager to discover more and hear about menu planning and developing a whole school approach."

Jeanette's book combines a diary of her successful efforts to reintroduce "proper food" at a primary school in Nottinghamshire with a selection of tried and tested "healthy options".

It has provided a source of recipe ideas for Mon-mouthshire's school cooks who have developed tempting new menus for primary school children at schools including Llandogo.

Catering staff at Shirenewton and Durand, Caldicot are also making good use of Jeanette's book in preparation for the roll-out of the project to their schools over the coming weeks. The new menus are prepared using as much local food as possible, which not only ensures that ingredients are fresh and nutritious but also cuts down on food miles and supports Monmouthshire farmers and producers.

Jeanette is now school meals policy adviser for organic campaigners the Soil Association.