Do we need British Restaurants again?

British Restaurants (originally called Community Feeding Centres) were a Second World War phenomenon, where people who had run out of rations were able to get a simple hot meal for the equivalent of about £1 or so in contemporary money. Meals included a single serving of meat, game, poultry, fish, eggs or cheese. They were set up on a not for profit basis and particularly popular in London.

It struck me that in the present financial climate there might be a case for introducing something similar, along the lines of cheap school dinners for grown ups, aimed at people whose benefits hadn’t arrived on time, for those struggling to find the money for a decent meal, for those people without access to a kitchen, and for those who were unable to cook properly or needed company at meal times (eg the elderly).

I can see local food producers and suppliers donating surplus or tasty but cosmetically unattractive stock to be turned into nourishing but simple fare, people being taught about nutrition and cooking from these centres, youth catering apprenticeships being offered and so on.

What do you think?