To think that some people are NEVER bloody happy??

[playanotherone]

So in the last week the U.K. government has announced that they will;

1. Put 1billion into a school "catch up" fund

1. Continue on the free school meal vouchers over the summer!

YET NOW there's people on Instagram going mad because apparently the government has "very quietly" removed the schools fruit and veg scheme!!?

Surely we Cannot expect the government (tax payers) to provide all of these things and apples and pears is surely not the priority right now!!

Totally agree. Doesn't matter that the next generations will be paying off this mess for the rest of their lives. The government should look after us.

There seems to be no understanding of where the 'government's money' comes from. Some seem to think the government is like a very rich parent who are giving us a handout.

@Bewareoftheblob only for I'm actually just I mean seriously can people not buy fruit with the voucher they get??

The fruit and veg scheme was one of those ideas that sounded so much better on paper.

The benefit to the individual child was minimal. The investment could have been targeted much more effectively.

It seems like fewer and fewer people are prepared to think for and look after themselves.

@thistimelastweek I agree!! I think it's ok to have these schemes for a period of time each school year possibly? But to let it carry on for so long that parents then feel absolved from the responsibilities of feeding their children fruit is utterly crazy!!

YET NOW there's people on Instagram going mad because apparently the government has "very quietly" removed the schools fruit and veg scheme!!?

Whilst also very quietly spending 2 billion pounds a year on Trident . Nice to know weapons of mass destruction have a higher priority than feeding kids well.

When you can buy fruit and veg in Aldi and Lidl for less than £1 I find it equally astonishing that some parents still find reason to complain, especially with the other assistance already available.
Each scheme costs money to administrate and run so this is not efficient use of tax payers money. It seems for some that no matter what support they receive they always find another area to moan about.
As parents it should not come as a surprise that children need food, many who complain seem to always find sufficient funds for mobile phone monthly payments, Netflix's, cigarettes. etc.
I'd rather my taxes went on other more worthwhile areas rather than bananas and apples!

Ah so that’s where the money to paint the plane is coming from!

@TheSandman well I'm sure apples and bananas aren't going to scare the Russians away unfortunately. Ok is I would rather feel protected and let parents buy their own fruit to be fair!!

@tiredanddangerous I'd assume that's where the money for the tuition fund and summer meal voucher fund is coming from....gimme a break!

TheSandman As a mobile nuclear deterrent Trident is good value in terms of defence spending, as a nation we don't spend much compared to other nuclear countries on defence.
With the threat from superpowers nations being very real at least we have a significant and real deterrent.

Whilst also very quietly spending 2 billion pounds a year on Trident . Nice to know weapons of mass destruction have a higher priority than feeding kids well.

You understand why we have trident, right?

You understand why we have trident, right?

Yes, because macho politicians like to have a big dick they can wave about.

Yep, yanbu OP.

@ThunderRocket ffs...
it's
59p for a bag of apples in ASDA
£1 for a bunch of 8 bananas
£1 for a bag of satsumas

That's 3.59! For three types of fruit and enough for a family of 3 dc to have one or two pieces a day!! Really?!

I agree that fruit can be quite expensive, but totally don't buy the whole junk is cheaper than veg argument, not when you have supermarkets like Aldi doing the Super 6 and you can get a bag or carrots for 29p

Frankly this government is spinning out of control so badly & lying at every possible opportunity, it's little wonder people will criticise everything they do. There's no accountability & dwindling respect.

@luckylavender I understand that BUT in terms of accountability...I think parents need to step up to that plate too!!

I'm a teacher in Ireland and we don't have a permanent fruit and veg scheme here...we have a scheme called food dudes that runs for a term.

Schools here are banded according to their area/cohort etc. I teach in an extremely deprived area and because of that our children get a government funded packed lunch but parents STILL send in their own packed lunch and there's always fruit in them.

Obviously, I only have experience of one school, but I do find the parental attitudes differ a hell of a lot between U.K. and Ireland!! Irish parents would never expect the schools/government to provide fruit and veg!! In saying that, wages are higher here and so is child benefits (€140!PER child and not means tested!)

School fruit and veg was paid for by the EU. It's a Brexit casualty.
Milk scheme also paid for by EU but government would probably get more flack if that stopped (especially as dairy industry is under pressure right now) so maybe they'll pay for that.

I'm as left as they come and I know that a massive bag of apples is a quid in home and bargain, bananas 69p, even a punnet of blueberries is less than a pound.
Honestly we do have to expect people to take some respinsibility for the foods they buy. Fruit and veg aren't some speciality, premium product only available in waitrose.

Oh and Iceland and heron foods both do big (300/500 gram) bags of frozen veg and fruit for a pound. Same price as a six pack of lolly ices.