{"id":16260,"date":"2024-04-25T09:00:21","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T08:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/?p=16260"},"modified":"2024-04-23T14:15:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T13:15:08","slug":"celebrity-chefs-ngos-councillors-doctors-and-health-organisations-call-for-the-extension-of-free-school-meals-across-the-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/celebrity-chefs-ngos-councillors-doctors-and-health-organisations-call-for-the-extension-of-free-school-meals-across-the-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrity chefs, NGOs, councillors, doctors and health organisations call for the extension of Free School Meals across the country"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-16261\" src=\"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/ff-1-300x100.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/ff-1-300x100.png 300w, https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/ff-1-1024x340.png 1024w, https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/ff-1-150x50.png 150w, https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/ff-1-768x255.png 768w, https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/ff-1.png 1327w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>As the Mayor of London last week announced that the provision of Free School Meals (UFSM) for all primary pupils in London would be made permanent if he is re-elected, <span data-contrast=\"auto\">letters co<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">ordinated by <\/span><span data-ccp-charstyle=\"Hyperlink\">The Food Foundation<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\"> have been sent to all metro mayoral candidates calling for them to champion bringing an end to the school food postcode lottery that leaves struggling families outside of London at a disadvantage. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">The letters have been sent ahead of mayoral elections on 2<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\"><sup>nd<\/sup><\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\"> May to call on all candidates\u00a0across the UK to support nationwide action to extend free school meals. The 87 signatories include celebrity chefs Tom Kerridge and Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, as well as NGOs, academics, councillors, doctors and health organisations including the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Royal Society of Public Health, the Association of Directors of Public Health and the National Education Union.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">There are <\/span><span data-ccp-charstyle=\"Hyperlink\">900,000 children living in poverty<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\"> in England who are missing out on national eligibility for Free School Meals. It is unfair that all primary school children in London receive a free hot meal at lunchtime, with the same being rolled out in Scotland and Wales, while there are so many children across the rest of England who are living in poverty without getting the same level of essential support.\u202fOutside of London, only children from households with an income below \u00a37,400 a year (after tax, before benefits) are eligible; a threshold that has not increased since 2018.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">New polling commissioned by The Food Foundation and published today has found that support for FSM is high across areas that will be voting for metro mayors next week:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> In the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) 79% of people support expanding Free School Meals to more children, while 73% support expanding the current scheme to all children<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> In Yorkshire 73% of people support expanding Free School Meals to more children, while 67% support expanding the current scheme to all children.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> In Liverpool City Region Combined Authority 80% of people support expanding Free School Meals to more children, while 75% support expanding the current scheme to all children.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Good nutrition in childhood should be non-negotiable; without it, not only do health outcomes worsen, placing extra pressure on the NHS but so do children\u2019s life chances.\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\"> 1 in 3 children are leaving primary school with an unhealthy weight<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\"> and<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\"> 1 in 5 households with children are currently experiencing food insecurity <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">in the UK.<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\"> FSM\u00a0can ensure that all school children can benefit from a hot nutritious meal at lunchtime, helping to protect them from food insecurity, to be healthier and happier, able to do better in school and in the long-term, earn more over their lifetime.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">If Free School Meals were extended to all children, for every \u00a31 invested, <\/span><span data-ccp-charstyle=\"Hyperlink\">\u00a31.71<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\"> would be generated in core benefits driven by improved health, education and employment outcomes. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\"><strong>Anna Taylor, Executive Director of The Food Foundation, said, <\/strong><\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u201cAs the transformative potential of free school meals is being increasingly recognised in London, we are calling for the scheme to be expanded nationwide to bring an end to the postcode lottery. Every child deserves access to healthy, nutritious food regardless of where they live. As we approach the 2024 general election, we urge all national political parties and metro mayors to pledge to do what\u2019s right and ensure that no child in England is left to go hungry at school.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\"><strong>Celebrity Chef and Campaigner Tom Kerridge, said,<\/strong><\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> \u201cWe need to end the postcode lottery in Free School Meals now. Every child should have a hot meal at lunchtime. Free School Meals provide a vital safety net for families struggling in the current cost of living crisis and policy makers need to commit to making sure every child in the UK can benefit, learn and go on to reach their potential\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\"><strong>Celebrity Chef and Campaigner Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, said<\/strong><\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">, \u201cIntroducing\u00a0free school meals for every primary school child in London has been an amazing policy initiative\u00a0from Sadiq Kahn, making a real difference to children\u2019s health and learning in the capital. It\u2019s brilliant that he\u2019s committed to making that a permanent policy in his manifesto. And it would be even more brilliant if it was expanded across England, so\u00a0that all children can\u00a0receive a nutritious meal at school to help\u00a0them concentrate, thrive at school, and reach their potential.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\"><strong>Paul McDonald, Chief Campaigns Officer at Health Equals: \u201c<\/strong><\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">Our childhood shapes our future health, and poverty is one of the biggest risks to children\u2019s health. Free school meals will help protect children from poverty and provide them with a nutritious meal which will help them grow, learn better at school and have more opportunity to thrive. Providing free school meals is investing in our children\u2019s future to give them every opportunity for a healthy and prosperous life.\u201d<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the Mayor of London last week announced that the provision of Free School Meals (UFSM) for all primary pupils in London would be made permanent if he is re-elected, letters coordinated by The Food Foundation have been sent to all metro mayoral candidates calling for them to champion bringing an end to the school &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16261,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,4,82,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-catering-nutrition","category-news","category-social-issues","category-wellbeing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16260"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16262,"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16260\/revisions\/16262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}