Last monthmarked a defining moment for the government. Coming up to their one-year anniversary in office, Labour took their most meaningful step yet towards honouring their manifesto commitments to break down barriers to opportunity and to make this the healthiest generation of children ever.
The relentless combined efforts of celebrities such as Marcus Rashford, Jamie Oliver and Emma Thompson, leading health and education experts, young people and parents, politicians across the political spectrum, many NGOs including the Feed the Future campaign (an initiative run by the School Food Review), all finally culminated in a game changing commitment from government; Kier Starmer announced that all children in families receiving Universal Credit in England will become able to register for free school meals, helping an estimated 500,000 children who previously did not meet the criteria to qualify despite living in poverty.
“A few weeks ago, I met with Stephen Morgan and told him straight: the current system is broken — too many kids are falling through the cracks. So hearing the government actually listened feels like a huge step forward. But this isn’t the end. We need proper investment in food quality, shorter queues, longer lunchtimes, and canteens that don’t feel chaotic,” said Yusuf, a Bite Back Campaigner.
This investment will be genuinely life changing for the children impacted. Over the years we have heard haunting stories of children hiding in the playground or pretending to eat out of empty lunchboxes because they’re too embarrassed to let anyone see they can’t afford anything for lunch, and teachers digging into their own pockets to give hungry children some food. Hopefully this will now come to an end.
But expanding Free School Meals is not just a fair intervention; it’s a smart economic one. Children who are not distracted by their stomachs rumbling from hunger do better at school, ultimately resulting in higher earning potential, a stronger workforce and better off economy.
To realise this full potential, a clear next step should be to automatically register children who qualify, removing the unnecessarily arduous application process which currently prevents many eligible children from benefitting.
Beyond this, there is an exciting prospect for government to make their investment in Free School Meals go even further. Ministers would be wise to recognise the scale of the opportunity before them and seize the chance to revolutionise school food. With children spending 190 days a year in school, the school food system offers huge potential just waiting to be tapped into.
A healthy school lunch can provide essential nourishment for children to grow up strong and healthy. The need for this is undeniable when looking at the latest worrying government stats on overweight and dental decay in children as young as five years old. With children on average consuming half the recommended intake of fruit and veg and twice the maximum recommended intake of sugar, improving the quality of what our children are given to eat in school creates a real opportunity to turn the tide on children’s health.
“As a parent, I’m thrilled the government is extending free school meals. This is such a huge step forward – every child deserves a proper, nutritious meal to help them learn, play and enjoy their school day. I’d love to see the government go even further to improve the quality of food offered to children, especially in secondary schools where the options can be really hit or miss,” said Mandy, a Sustain Children’s Food Ambassador.
Thankfully, government has also announced a review of the School Food Standards – the very outdated, mandatory-but-not-enforced guidance intended to help schools serve children food that is healthy, but in need of ambitious changes to deliver this aim. To really be effective, monitoring of compliance is also needed to hold schools to account and support given to them when falling short. Even better, these changes will make expanding Free School Meals deliver even greater long-term financial savings to our drowning healthcare system.
Government could go even further still in their ambition. School food creates an ideal opportunity for government to demonstrate some much-needed support for British farmers by updating the rules on procurement, simultaneously benefiting local economies while ensuring our children are eating more minimally processed foods produced here in the UK.
The power of food in shaping our society should never be underestimated. The culture created in school canteens, eating together and trying new foods, can foster community and establish healthy eating habits that will stick with children for life. If government choose to be bold, this could be the first step in unlocking the full potential of school food and turning it into a real national asset.
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