School Food Matters calls on new UK government to ensure school children’s access to adequate nutrition

11 Jul 2024 --- Last week’s elections held in the UK produced a new government with the Labour Party in charge for the first time in 14 years. The country’s School Food Matters NGO calls on the new policymakers in charge to do more to ensure the food and nutrition security of the nation’s children.

“Labour set out a bold new ambition for ‘this to be the healthiest generation of children ever’ in their Child Health Action Plan. We believe that a key part of achieving this ambition is to make immediate changes to the school food system so children can have access to healthy, sustainable food and learn more about where it comes from,” Stephanie Slater, founder and CE at School Food Matters, tells Nutrition Insight.

“The government now has a unique opportunity to transform school food, which in turn will create a healthier generation now and for future generations to come.”  

During campaigning, the NGO released its 2024 Manifesto, which as Slater points out, chiefly states that the new government should “invest in every child by providing them delicious, nutritious and sustainable school meals, fully funded, no matter where they grow up.”

She adds: “Provide every school with sufficient funding for a breakfast club so that no child starts the day too hungry to learn. We welcome this pledge from Labour and await further details about how the scheme will be implemented. We also call for the government to make the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme permanent for all pupils and provide sufficient funding to ensure the produce is sustainably sourced.”

Stephanie Slater, founder and CE at School Food Matters (Image credit: School Food Matters).“Update the School Food Standards to better reflect the health needs of children and the planet and monitor and report on compliance with them. In addition, funding should be provided for water fountains and refill stations in schools to normalize free tap water as the default for hydration and to take meaningful action on single-use plastics,” she continues.

Slater also calls on policymakers to “provide funding for a school food improvement officer in every local authority” and to “reintroduce Food A-Level, provide sufficient funding for food education lessons, and ensure every child can grow food at school.” 

Breakfast club for all 
School Food Matters expects the new Labour government to act upon their free breakfast club expansion promise to make breakfast accessible to every child in the country. “We hope this will happen immediately,” asserts Slater.

“The UK has one of the highest levels of food poverty in Europe, resulting in three million children living in food insecurity. We want children to have access to the nutrition they need to sustain them throughout the school day and for no child to arrive too hungry to learn,” she explains. 

“There are also several benefits to learning outcomes, with research showing children in primary schools receiving a free breakfast achieved, on average, two months’ additional progress over a year.”

Slater says that breakfast clubs enable schools to put healthy food on center stage and encourage healthy eating habits throughout the school day and beyond. “Our Healthy Zones team is in schools every day helping schools to build a healthier school food environment. Teachers have told us that rolling out healthy breakfasts has led to noticeable changes, with children becoming ‘calmer, more focused and better behaved’ in class.”

“But too often, the quality of breakfast gets forgotten, despite school food standards applying across the school day. While access to a hot school lunch remains a focus for School Food Matters, we agree that access to a nutritious breakfast is an important first step to ensuring every child has the good nutrition they need to thrive.” 

Poverty and school meal access
The NGO also brings attention to another policy-related issue: 900,000 children in the UK live in poverty and yet receive no free school meals. 

“School meals present an unrivaled opportunity to provide great nutrition to children. However, to qualify for a free school meal in England, a child must come from a household with an annual income below £7,400 (US$9,460) per year after benefits,” says Slater.

She highlights that as a result of this threshold, one in three (900,000) children living in poverty is considered “too well off to get a free school meal,” while nearly half a million children are missing out due to the “over-complicated enrollment process.”

“We urge Labour policymakers to invest in every child by providing fully funded, delicious, nutritious and sustainable school meals, no matter where they grow up. The first step is to implement auto-enrollment so children who are entitled to a free school meal can receive one, without complicated paperwork standing in the way,” she argues.

“The second step is to extend free school meals to all children across the country. New data shows that 88% of primary school parents outside of London support free school meals for all, and we think the government should take this call seriously and stop means-testing free school meals.” 

Slater expects the new government to act upon their promise to make breakfast accessible to every child.School meal nutrition gap
The NGO’s founder and CE also points to the gap in nutrition standards for school meals in different educational institutions in the country as a key issue that needs to be tackled. 

“There are currently no government checks on school food. Back in 2013, the coalition government’s School Food Plan had a chapter called ‘What gets measured gets done,’ but sadly, no policy followed. Currently, no one is required to look at the quality of school food,” Slater details. 

“We have mandatory school food standards, but without monitoring, there is no consistency of quality. The Conservative government’s ‘Levelling Up’ white paper made recommendations on monitoring and reporting on school food so all eyes will be on the Labour government to see how it chooses to tackle the issue of quality.”

She argues that this is important as school food remains the healthiest option for children since only 1.6% of packed lunches meet the same nutritional standards.

Importance of education
The NGO also spotlights education as an aspect of nutrition at school. “We want children to leave school knowing how to cook a variety of meals and with an understanding of where food comes from. Food education should be engaging and provide pupils with the skills they need to create healthy, tasty meals and the knowledge to become informed consumers,” comments Slater.

“Food and Nutrition is the only national curriculum subject without an A-Level, and the subject needs to be given the same status as Maths and English. Lessons can be hampered by a lack of funding for equipment and ingredients, with teachers often subsidizing these from their own pockets.” 

She says that many children leave school without understanding that food comes from the soil, not the supermarket. “In a recent survey, two in three students (66%) felt they didn’t get enough time out in nature and wanted more, with most children preferring green time to screen time as a reward in school.”

“Therefore, we are calling on the government to reintroduce Food A-Level, provide sufficient funding for food education lessons and make sure every child has the opportunity to grow food at school,” Slater concludes. 

By Milana Nikolova