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19 March 2025
Last week, we went to the Houses of Parliament to make our voices heard on universal free school meals. A new report from Barnardo’s has revealed that nearly one in five UK parents have to buy unhealthy food for their children because they can’t afford healthier options, whilst School Food Matters reported that 25% of teachers use their own money to feed pupils.
This why we need universal school meals, so all children can access a healthy and sustainable meal during the school day.
To put this front and centre with MPs, Oona Buttafoco, Senior Policy Officer at Food for Life, travelled to London to attend The Superpowers of School Food: Breakfast and Beyond.
This event was organised to launch the School Food Review’s new report, which brings together organisations working across school food. This is a comprehensive report that evidences the many benefits of extending free school meal provision, beginning with the almost 1 million children in poverty who aren’t currently eligible. We were proud to be involved in the behind the scenes of this report and to be part of this unified voice.
With more than 35 organisations involved, and written with MPs and policy makers in mind, it sets the consensus on school food as it currently is and what needs to change.
On entry, attendees were handed a card with information about a hypothetical child: their hobbies, favourite foods, household income, and whether they’re eligible for school meals. When leaving, those who had a card with a child who was eligible for free school meals got to take home a lunchbox from Chefs in Schools – those who weren’t eligible left empty handed. This was really eye opening: in England, families need to earn less than £7,400 per year to qualify for free school meals. This means approximately one million children in poverty can't access a proper meal during the school day.
The event was also made up of three panel sessions which highlighted the lived experience of people working with school food and those who eat it, including a 16-year-old Food Foundation food ambassador. We heard about how school meals help relieve the financial burden and stress of providing a healthy lunch every day for parents and how investing in it is investing in children’s education and future.
20 MPs and peers attended the event as well as ten MP staffers. This engagement highlights the urgency of these issues and that it’s beginning to resonate with MPs who want to see free school meal provision expanded.
Chris Webb, MP for Blackpool South, encouraged those who want to see change to email their local MP and make it the top of their list. People power will help turn the tide – it’s an outrage that children aren’t having these basic needs met.
