Jamie Oliver has fought battles over school dinners and the sugar tax and now has a new campaign in his sights - Holiday Hunger.

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This refers to the 1.7m vulnerable children he says do not eat properly in the 175 days or so a year that they aren’t attending school, and therefore don’t get free school meals.

And he wants to do something about it.

“I have exposed myself to what that looks like and how that exists and how that stops parents from moving their lives on because they are just so worried about whether they are going to feed their kids,” he tells RadioTimes.com.

“It’s not about balance in the diet, it’s not about vitamins, it’s about them eating anything. It’s a huge thing that’s upsetting me at the moment.”

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Oliver has made a short film for it for his Channel 4 show Friday Night Feasts due to air early next year – and he has not ruled out a full scale series on the subject if C4 programmes boss Jay Hunt is amenable.

And he reckons she will be.

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“My relationship with Jay is such that if I look her in the eyes and I say I believe this is a pubic health issue she says what are you asking me for, just go and do it. I am very lucky I can go and do that.”

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