Parents hit out at 'meagre' free school meal £30 parcels 'worth under a fiver'
Angry parents and campaigners have criticised photos of “woefully inadequate” free school meals that have appeared on social media.
Pictures showing sparse packages have been posted to Twitter, including one from a user whose family’s £30 parcel was estimated to hold just over £5 of food.
Roadside Mum’s image shows one of a loaf of bread, can of beans, cheese slices and a small selection of fruit and vegetables, leading to criticism from Labour and footballer Marcus Rashford.
Read more: Closing primary schools my biggest regret from first COVID lockdown, Boris Johnson says
#FreeSchoolMeals bag for 10 days:
2 days jacket potato with beans
8 single cheese sandwiches
2 days carrots
3 days apples
2 days soreen
3 days frubes
Spare pasta & tomato. Will need mayo for pasta salad.
Issued instead of £30 vouchers. I could do more with £30 to be honest. pic.twitter.com/87LGUTHXEu— Roadside Mum 🐯 (@RoadsideMum) January 11, 2021
The parcels are being sent to families as children learn from home. The free school meals are provided through a national voucher scheme, rather than cash payments, for families whose children attend schools that can’t offer food parcels.
Twitter users said they would have been able to buy more food if they had been given the equivalent of a voucher in money.
The government has said it will investigate, while the company which provided the package to Roadside Mum has said the image does not represent its packages.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the problem needed fixing to avoid families going hungry.
The images appearing online of woefully inadequate free school meal parcels are a disgrace.
Where is the money going?
This needs sorting immediately so families don’t go hungry through lockdown.— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) January 12, 2021
Our school was disgusted by our caterers! Food in money bags!!! Pathetic carrot stub. @MarcusRashfordpic.twitter.com/PKxSMrMsAV
— Lisa Tanner (@LisaMarieTanner) January 11, 2021
And another one...😔 pic.twitter.com/hCCFCxC5HL
— Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) January 11, 2021
3 days of food for 1 family...
Just not good enough. pic.twitter.com/Y7FJEFFAma— Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) January 11, 2021
Hi all. I’ve been sent LOTS of photos of the food parcels that have replaced the £30 vouchers and asked what I would do with them. I’m replying with advice privately because to do so publicly would look like justifying these ill thought through, offensively meagre scraps /1.
— Jack Monroe (@BootstrapCook) January 11, 2021
England and Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford, who has been campaigning against food poverty, wrote on Twitter: “3 days of food for 1 family… Just not good enough.
“Then imagine we expect the children to engage in learning from home.
“Not to mention the parents who, at times, have to teach them who probably haven’t eaten at all so their children can… We MUST do better.”
Children’s minister Vicky Ford said she would investigate “urgently” while the Department for Education said its “clear guidelines” mean packages should be “nutritious and contain a varied range of food”.
I will be looking into this urgently - food parcels should cover all lunchtime meals & be nutritious - we’ve increased funding for parcels & will support local vouchers - national voucher also rolling out ASAP, working night & day on this. Hope your kids are ok @roadsidemumhttps://t.co/vL5XTSNgT7
— Vicky Ford MP (@vickyford) January 11, 2021
Chartwells, which Roadside Mum said provided her package, responded, though their tweet also drew criticism from activist Jack Monroe.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention, this does not reflect the specification of one of our hampers. Please can you DM us the details of the school that your child attends and we will investigate immediately.
— Chartwells (@Chartwells_UK) January 11, 2021
With all due respect, this isn’t the only photo in circulation. Perhaps you could clarify the situation by posting a pic of what your food parcels -should- look like? Because I’ve had hundreds of pics that look just like this one. Over to you.
— Jack Monroe (@BootstrapCook) January 11, 2021
