What's happened to Free School Meals provision?

[Carpathian2]

I've just had this from my child's school

Vouchers are not better if they're spent of cider, which apparently happened a hell of a lot last time.

FFS- yes of course and cigarettes,

Evidence? And not my mums sisters cat told me that she saw a woman in Aldi who looked like she may be eligible for FSM buying a bottle of cider.

The problem is cooking facilities. Some people who are reliant on FSM don't always have gas or electric. So a baked potato or omlette isn't gonna happen.

Vouchers would be much more practical.

Also, some kids can't eat for example eggs.

I agree OP. Bollocks to this beggars can't be choosers guff.

Really ?

I don't really need either, it's about treating people who do with respect. I'd quite happily donate for the school to distribute as they see fit. Beleive it or not, with careful planning it's possible to get by on benefits.

So, it’s disrespectful for the schools to distribute food that children would usually receive in school, but it wouldn’t be disrespectful for them to distribute whatever other parents like you had donated.

Ok. That makes sense.

And actually, while people should always be treated with respect, it’s not about that. It’s about getting food to children that need it, and food parcels achieve that. Probably more efficiently than vouchers do.

Forgot to bold your quote there OP, sorry if it’s confusing.

[quote Carpathian2]@parkpoolplunge

No, I don't find FSM patronising! What I find patronising is people telling me I should be great ful for this. I don't need to have a word with myself either as it's the obvious to me that not many people will take this up, if only so they won't be seen to be that desperate because they have pride.
As I said, I won't be taking any parcels. At least with the vouchers they could be redeemed discretely [/quote]
What exactly are you wanting the school to provide for meals then?

The school is providing food for one child for 5 lunches. That's more than sufficient and a good variety of food for 5x reasonable lunches.

@Carpathian2

To clarify, I'm not actually complaining about the contents of the box. It's the fact that you need to go to the school every week to pick it up and the embarrassment that causes.

So I will doff my cap and be humbly grateful for whatever is thrown at me.

You asked how this meagre food parcel is supposed to help

Nothing whatsoever in your goady op about having to go and collect it. You also complained that it was food that your child will not eat.

Sorry that was in response to the poster saying the vouchers were spent on cider ? Where is the evidence of this

I would have thought delivering it was more COVID safe than people queuing up so I’d check that was correct.

It doesn't sound too bad for 5 lunches for a child eg they coulf have one hard boiled egg a day (if the parent has cooking facilities at home) and a bread roll and fruit etc and a yoghurt - in fact it's probably more than 5 lunches.

The vouchers can only be spent on food. Supermarkets won't accept them for alcohol and cigarettes.

We're getting the £15 vouchers, thank fuck, as I'm feeding 3 adults and a child on ESA and Tax credits that only cover the 2 adults and child. That £15 can stretch to a hell of a lot more than what they're offering in the bags. In fact it's 1/4 of my food bill each week. but if you child was at school you wouldn't be getting the £15 you would be just getting 1 child fed 5 lunches which is what is in the bag.

I think it's insulting to people who haven't got the skills to provide put those ingredients together to make a lunch.

Wow. I think it’s insulting to suggest that parents whose children are entitled to FSM wouldn’t have the skills to make a sandwich or a jacket potato

@Bunnybigears

How were they abused ? by people buying things that weren't food for their children and by people selling them to other people.

How was this investigated ? Where is the actual proof of this? Everyone that I know personally that received vouchers we were all swapping recipes etc and best prices for stuff to get and trying to make some good meals in the slow cooker etc I don’t know one person who wasn’t extremely grateful and all were using it to feed their children as intended

The school my kid goes to said they'd give me the vouchers when they get them from the government. Not like this is unexpected or anything. Ciuldnt they have sent them when they decided o lockdiwn

The vouchers can only be spent on food. Supermarkets won't accept them for alcohol and cigarettes.

Doesn't mean they get spent on nutritious food for children though. I know one parent who spent it all on large blocks of cheese then sold the cheese on. It is the shop lifters item of choice for a reason.

@Carpathian2

The vouchers can only be spent on food. Supermarkets won't accept them for alcohol and cigarettes.

So they weren’t being spent on cider then ? Funny how these rumours get about and quite sad really people are so quick to try to make fsm recipients look bad

I think people should be - and most will be - grateful for it. It gives plenty for the child's lunches and allows them to make what they want with the ingredients. It's simple ingredients that most people can put together. It doesn't all rely on heating things up, so it's not too energy consuming. I don't really see how it could be much better.

@Bunnybigears

The vouchers can only be spent on food. Supermarkets won't accept them for alcohol and cigarettes.

Doesn't mean they get spent on nutritious food for children though. I know one parent who spent it all on large blocks of cheese then sold the cheese on. It is the shop lifters item of choice for a reason.

Wow

I agree it's wrong, just because the child is entitled to free school meals doesn't mean somebody else should get to decide what they eat. What about allergies? Intolerances ? It's ridiculous

@Bunnybigears

The vouchers can only be spent on food. Supermarkets won't accept them for alcohol and cigarettes.

Doesn't mean they get spent on nutritious food for children though. I know one parent who spent it all on large blocks of cheese then sold the cheese on. It is the shop lifters item of choice for a reason.

That will always happen, I didn't say they couldn't be abused. But the vast majority of people will use the vouchers properly, and the contents of a food parcel can also be sold.

How was this investigated ? Where is the actual proof of this?
Everyone that I know personally that received vouchers we were all swapping recipes etc and best prices for stuff to get and trying to make some good meals in the slow cooker etc I don’t know one person who wasn’t extremely grateful and all were using it to feed their children as intended
I would assume that is because you dont know any parents who have a drug habit to pay for.

@Downtothelastbottleofwine

They could have done but they didn't so most schools are stuck with having to provide food boxes. Vouchers are much easier to administer but currently we don't have the option. We have to keep paying our meals provider and can't afford to pay twice!

Unfortunately OP, people that really struggle have to put being embarrassed and their pride second... so their children can eat! A lot of these people will also rely on going to food banks where sometimes you also get what you are given and have to go and collect it.

It's great you don't really need them, don't take them, but to not understand why people are calling you ungrateful is frankly shocking and very tone deaf.

@Bunnybigears

*How was this investigated ? Where is the actual proof of this? Everyone that I know personally that received vouchers we were all swapping recipes etc and best prices for stuff to get and trying to make some good meals in the slow cooker etc I don’t know one person who wasn’t extremely grateful and all were using it to feed their children as intended* I would assume that is because you dont know any parents who have a drug habit to pay for.

Do you ? Are you actually speaking from first hand personal experience