A loaf and a block of cheese is not lunch for ten days

[ZazieSheHer]

So some of the free school lunch boxes contain very little food.

Marcus Rashford condemns free school meal packages

“...a package, supposedly containing £30 worth of food to last for 10 days, comprising just a loaf of bread, some cheese, a tin of beans, two carrots, two bananas, three apples, two potatoes, a bag of pasta, three Frubes, two Soreen bars and a tomato”.

mobile.twitter.com/RoadsideMum/status/1348646428084760576

Can’t imagine what it’s like home schooling hungry kids. Would like to say I’m shocked but I’m not.

Its absolutely disgusting that mps can claim £30 for one breakfast but this is supposed to feed a child?
Fuck off. I hope everyone rejects that company who has done this I'm so angry

No you combine it with tomatoes and herbs you have at home. Or grated cheese or wasn't there tuna in that food box?

There was no tuna or cheese or even pasta in my Dc case. So.... you might want to have a word with yourself trying to justify starving children.

the government would be much better off liaising with supermarkets and sending families digital codes which have amounts based on the number of children and days at a good nutritional value, that the families can then redeem via delivery or collection

If people are isolating or shielding that affects the whole family, not just the school child(ren). Obviously they're not going to be able to live off the food parcel as a family so they must be buying food somewhere or having help to get it. It's not an answer as to why these parcels are better than vouchers.

How much do you spend on your childrens’ lunches? Do you think £3 per day is excessive?

I certainly do. £3 is a ridiculous sum to spend every day. Today we are having homemade tomato soup with tiger bread and a yoghurt to follow. The tin of tomatoes cost 50p, pence for the onion, a stock cube and a squirt of tomato purée. So probably max 75p. The whole loaf of bread cost £1.10 from the bakery and that will last two days. The yoghurts are just bog standard yoghurts, no idea how much they were.

£3 will more than cover the cost of our lunch for 3.

@SFHJ

Unpopular opinion. Sorry but it’s for school lunches why should it be £30 a week, it’s not for a whole weeks shop, maybe it’s changed to the parcel which does contain the lunches for the relevant amount of days as it’s more cost effective for the schools providing it. There is only limited budgets and our grandchildren are going to paying for this for rest of their lives. Why can’t people be grateful for the help they do get. People are always wanting more.

The taxpayer is paying £30. We don't get the change, it goes to the company making a profit. I saw on Twitter somebody priced it up to £5 in Asda. That's more difference than just the company's costs and the profits are huge.

the government would be much better off liaising with supermarkets and sending families digital codes which have amounts based on the number of children and days at a good nutritional value, that the families can then redeem via delivery or collection

Yes, if they want to control nutrition etc this is a reasonable solution I think.

@Kissthepastrychef

How much do you spend on your childrens’ lunches? Do you think £3 per day is excessive?

I certainly do. £3 is a ridiculous sum to spend every day. Today we are having homemade tomato soup with tiger bread and a yoghurt to follow. The tin of tomatoes cost 50p, pence for the onion, a stock cube and a squirt of tomato purée. So probably max 75p. The whole loaf of bread cost £1.10 from the bakery and that will last two days. The yoghurts are just bog standard yoghurts, no idea how much they were.

£3 will more than cover the cost of our lunch for 3.

And hardly any of those ingredients in the food packs, unless you feel that a quartered onion wrapped in cling film, left our for who knows how long, is ok to feed children with.

the government would be much better off liaising with supermarkets and sending families digital codes which have amounts based on the number of children and days at a good nutritional value, that the families can then redeem via delivery or collection

Yes. There will still be some for whom that system won't work, but there will always be people who fall through the net in any system. That's were charity and volunteers will have to pick up the slack.

@Kissthepastrychef

How much do you spend on your childrens’ lunches? Do you think £3 per day is excessive?

I certainly do. £3 is a ridiculous sum to spend every day. Today we are having homemade tomato soup with tiger bread and a yoghurt to follow. The tin of tomatoes cost 50p, pence for the onion, a stock cube and a squirt of tomato purée. So probably max 75p. The whole loaf of bread cost £1.10 from the bakery and that will last two days. The yoghurts are just bog standard yoghurts, no idea how much they were.

£3 will more than cover the cost of our lunch for 3.

1 tin of soup between 3 people? I'd eat one for myself and would still need the bread and yogurt.

£30 is way too much. Shouldn't be given as vouchers as individuals will profit.

In our school the meals are costed as 60p a day. People should either have that amount paid as a supplement to child benefit or they should get a box supplied with a fair cost to allow for the supply.

I like Marcus but him posting 3 lunches ment as a child and saying it's supposed to feed a whole family for 3 days is misleading. It's coming to the stage where no one is looking good.

As usual, it's ok to scrounge off tax payers if you're rich and well connected, but heaven forbid children have enough to eat from one day to the next.

we’re constantly being told there isn’t enough money to feed disadvantaged kids yet the govt will pay £30 a pop for a private company to supply a fiver’s worth of food to one child for two weeks?

I agree £30 is a lot for two weeks worth of lunches for one child, so in that case make it a £15 voucher straight to the parents or stick another £15 per kid on family allowance. The kids would get more that it was cost the government half of what it is now.

@Kissthepastrychef are your children 6 foot year 11’s ? That £3 is to feed kids right up to the end of school, a bowl of soup and a yoghurt would not be enough

@Leftontheboaty

£30 is way too much. Shouldn't be given as vouchers as individuals will profit.

In our school the meals are costed as 60p a day. People should either have that amount paid as a supplement to child benefit or they should get a box supplied with a fair cost to allow for the supply.

I like Marcus but him posting 3 lunches ment as a child and saying it's supposed to feed a whole family for 3 days is misleading. It's coming to the stage where no one is looking good.

Yes the profit of enough calories to live a comfortable existence, how awful.

In our school the meals are costed at 60p per day

What on earth do you feed and in what quantities for 60p?

In our school the meals are costed as 60p a day. People should either have that amount paid as a supplement to child benefit

No, it needs to be calculated based on the average cost of buying and preparing at home. Big companies have economies of scale.

And hardly any of those ingredients in the food packs, unless you feel that a quartered onion wrapped in cling film, left our for who knows how long, is ok to feed children with.

The question was whether £3 was excessive, not whether I could make the lunch we are having today out of the contents of the box.
The food packs could easily include a tin of soup

@Ereshkigalangcleg

the government would be much better off liaising with supermarkets and sending families digital codes which have amounts based on the number of children and days at a good nutritional value, that the families can then redeem via delivery or collection

Yes, if they want to control nutrition etc this is a reasonable solution I think.

It's a good solution but again it won't suit everyone, unless it applies to all supermarkets and if those that offer delivery could also ringfence (free) delivery slots with no minimum order requirement.

Even then there may still be some families who could have legitimate reasons to find this unworkable for them.

1 tin of soup between 3 people

Maybe you should read what I wrote. I don't buy tinned soups

Compass group extorting the tax payer, no way. Not like they have been doing it for years when PAYD was abolished.

You can feed a child on that for 10 days. It's basic, but it can be done. However the issue is the £30 a week. I will argue that £30 is a lot to feed a child one meal for a week, and that's the mistake the government have made. The guys providing the hamper are now swimming in profit (which obviously they have to make profit it's their job) but the government shouldn't have said such a high amount to then only give a 6th of that.

It's a good solution but again it won't suit everyone, unless it applies to all supermarkets and if those that offer delivery could also ringfence (free) delivery slots with no minimum order requirement.

Presumably the government would be paying for it so I think it could be all supermarkets. Ringfencing delivery slots is relevant to more than just FSM, and people must be getting supplies somehow. It's far better than sending crap food parcels with all the overheads that entails. No solution is going to please every person.

In our school the meals are costed as 60p a day.
Possibly but no doubt you by food in HUGE catering quantities where price per meal will drop significantly.

I’m flabbergasted but not shocked they chose Chartwells. If anyone has had any dealings with them they will know they are a scum sucking rip off company that seem to have a monopoly on certain industries catering.
We used to get charged £10 for 2 “large” bowls of crisps (ready salted) for buffets in the university I used to work in. Apparently this was a company who had been through a fair tender process hahahaha. They should be fucking ashamed of this shite they’re giving out