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.

@wheresmykimchi how were the goverment complicit as someone has provided what they were roughly told to provide and it was more than they did, the hampee fell short of what was recommended.
Other suppliers have managed ok and some schools are doing vouchers.
The goverment had paid for this so its not in there interest for it not to be value for money. Schools or la choose their providers not the govermenf and when it comes to awarding contracts again maybe schools/ la will remember this.
Many mp's in the goverment have criticised this and said it needs investigating
A decent hamper could and should of been provided , but for once this isn't soley the goverments fault.

@Jimjamjong

But if people sell their vouchers, they could sell their food parcel too? Unless the parcel is worthless because the company that provides them kept all the money for themselves...

Because its much easier to go "gimme your voucher or I hit you repeatedly" to a number of people than to go around collecting rins of tuna i cant use?

Or do you forget organised crime exists?

@5zeds

Pasta/bread/potatoe. Main carb Fruit/soreen loaf/frubes. Pudding Beans/carrots/cheese. Flavour/protein

I’d say a little light on protein but probably enough for ten lunches

It's not enough and does not come to £30 and they are benefitting at the children's expense

My school have been great.

All the ingredients for a cooked meal for ten days. Only repeats were baked potatoes but fillings in those days were different.

School even provided the order to eat everything in so that fresh stuff wouldn't go to waste if left for lunch 9. Most of it has been made and cooked and portioned up in the school kitchen and put into containers to freeze and only needing a few mins in the microwave to heat up. Looking on local page it's gone down really well, esp for parents working from home but some people have been "what if they don't have a freezer" "What if they don't eat meat" The school actually asked parents this on the form parents had to complete to claim a food parcel so other provisions could be made, be that collecting twice a week for no freezer space instead of once every two weeks and non meat options.

Today's lunch was tomato and basil pasta sauce (not a jar but made fresh at school and a weighed out past portion and a portion of grated cheese. Generous size portions too, mines 15 and that and the cookie (made at school too) filled her up nicely.

Other meals include sausage and hash browns and beans, chilli and rice, stew, sweet and sour chicken, all cooked and portioned at school.

Seeing that I'm in the minority makes me sad but I'm also disgusted at the attitudes some people have towards the poor have made me want to cry today. I saw someone suggest parents sell the kids laptop to pay for better food if they aren't happy with cheese slices and a loaf of bread. Yeah, kids are learning from home and education is one of the ways to improve job choices in later life and some people hate the poor that much they want their access to education sold to buy food cos they're angry they don't get free meals themselves. People can be such cunts

[quote donewithitalltodayandxmas]@wheresmykimchi how were the goverment complicit as someone has provided what they were roughly told to provide and it was more than they did, the hampee fell short of what was recommended.
Other suppliers have managed ok and some schools are doing vouchers.
The goverment had paid for this so its not in there interest for it not to be value for money. Schools or la choose their providers not the govermenf and when it comes to awarding contracts again maybe schools/ la will remember this.
Many mp's in the goverment have criticised this and said it needs investigating
A decent hamper could and should of been provided , but for once this isn't soley the goverments fault.
[/quote]
They were complicit. The company are Tory funders. Do you honestly believe the contract was given with no agreement of what would be served? Behave.

MPs criticism means nothing. The government criticised Dominic Cummings for his antics yet hes had a 40 grand pay rise.

The government didn't pay for this! We did.

But the contract isn’t with the Government.

@EveryoneHasLostTheGame that sounds great. If only all schools could be a good.

Sinful18, I already responded to Accidentally on Purpose's post about this often being the only meal a child would have in a day, on previous page, thus:

"I'm sorry about that and if I could help in any way I would. However the government has so far agreed to help out with one meal, lunch - in lieu of free school meals. I haven't come across schools providing more than one meal a day.

We can campaign for people to get more - extra child benefit, food vouchers, etc. Everyone should have a decent cooked meal at home in the evening. I'd be happy for my bit of tax to go towards that. What are other people doing to help?

I don't know why you are so cross with me, my comment was based on what was provided for a child's lunch."

I think most parents start out all right but people fall on hard times; at the moment, quite a few are experiencing difficulties because of losing jobs, etc. It could happen to any of us. I know someone at the moment with a young baby who doesn't know when she will receive the maternity benefits to which she is entitled; at the same time their car (her and her partner's), essential to his work, is in dire need of repair. They have had to ask their landlord if they can pay their rent in bits and pieces. A few months ago they wouldn't have anticipated being in such dire straits.

We never know what is around the corner.

@poshme quite a few schools don’t have kitchens so would not be able to provide this service

[quote Clicketyclick21]The caterer at my dc's school is Chartwell & the head wisely decided not to contract them to provide the fsm lunch boxes. The school has ordered meal boxes from Morrisons instead. Much better value & the whole £30 is being used for food instead of on costs.
www.morrisons.com/food-boxes/box/school-meals-box[/quote]
That sounds better.

WitchesGlove: Just put the bread in the fridge.

......
I do that, I make sure it is double wrapped. It keeps a long time as do rolls.

@ineedaholidaynow yes of course. I'd forgotten that.

@LizFlowers

WitchesGlove: Just put the bread in the fridge.

......
I do that, I make sure it is double wrapped. It keeps a long time as do rolls.

Bread goes stale faster in the fridge! It should never be kept in there.

Ugh, fridge bread is almost as nasty as bread that's been frozen.

I think it would be helpful if a comparison between different food parcels could be shown.

www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/house-and-home/household-advice/a673628/how-to-make-bread-last-longer/

Never keep your bread in the fridge. The starch molecules in bread recrystallize very quickly at cool temperatures, and causes the bread to stale much faster when refrigerated.

@wheresmykimchi can you not get it that la and schools choose the contractors mot central goverment, there are other contractors out there, so I do not need to behave
Maybe when considering contracts going forward schools and la will remember this.

[quote SendHelp30]@Toasty280 exactly

@LegoPirateMonkey no I’m saying it shouldn’t be a bloody thing at all. The idea that you would have a child or more than one child and then expect tax payers and the government to feed, clothe, heat & house them is just absolutely beyond me. If you cannot support a child then don’t have them. If your circumstances change then you make every effort to do something about it. A lady I work with has 3 jobs to support her kids so that she can provide everything they need. Where is the pride? The work ethic? The ambition?[/quote]
Shut up you are fucking clueless, a lot of tax payers kids get free school meals, you disgust me .

[quote donewithitalltodayandxmas]@wheresmykimchi can you not get it that la and schools choose the contractors mot central goverment, there are other contractors out there, so I do not need to behave
Maybe when considering contracts going forward schools and la will remember this.
[/quote]
So th government are blameless and the fact this company is a massive Tory funder is..chance.

OK.

@LizFlowers

Sinful18, I already responded to Accidentally on Purpose's post about this often being the only meal a child would have in a day, on previous page, thus:

"I'm sorry about that and if I could help in any way I would. However the government has so far agreed to help out with one meal, lunch - in lieu of free school meals. I haven't come across schools providing more than one meal a day.

We can campaign for people to get more - extra child benefit, food vouchers, etc. Everyone should have a decent cooked meal at home in the evening. I'd be happy for my bit of tax to go towards that. What are other people doing to help?

I don't know why you are so cross with me, my comment was based on what was provided for a child's lunch."

I think most parents start out all right but people fall on hard times; at the moment, quite a few are experiencing difficulties because of losing jobs, etc. It could happen to any of us. I know someone at the moment with a young baby who doesn't know when she will receive the maternity benefits to which she is entitled; at the same time their car (her and her partner's), essential to his work, is in dire need of repair. They have had to ask their landlord if they can pay their rent in bits and pieces. A few months ago they wouldn't have anticipated being in such dire straits.

We never know what is around the corner.

No, that was me. Not accidentally.

I've apologised for my fury.

@ineedaholidaynow

But the contract isn’t with the Government.

Yes it is?

[quote donewithitalltodayandxmas]@wheresmykimchi can you not get it that la and schools choose the contractors mot central goverment, there are other contractors out there, so I do not need to behave
Maybe when considering contracts going forward schools and la will remember this.
[/quote]
Who do you think runs the LA?

@5zeds

What are you on ! Please do is a menu for 10 days for 1 school child !

Main
Two cheese on toast
One tomato sandwich
Two carrot soup and bread
Two baked potato and beans
Three pasta and cheese sauce

Pudding
two bananas,
three apples,
three Frubes,
two Soreen bars

10 mains/10 puddings

As I said it’s light on protein and definitely NOT £30

Carrot Soup? Made with what? 2 carrots only? No other veg? 🤢🤢🤮🤮 Pasta with cheese sauce mase with only the plastic cheese you get on a.mcds burger? 🤢🤢🤮🤮 Tomato sandwich 🤢🤢🤮🤮 Thwng fuck I don't live at your house

@SendHelp30

Do you not understand that no child deserves to go hungry?

It’s not the child’s fault that their parents are addicts, or their parents can’t budget, or that their parents don’t get paid a living wage, or their parents have lost their job, or there is no childcare available for their parents to work 3 jobs, or a parent has died. ( this is not an exhaustive list as to why a child may need FSM).

Regardless of a child’s parents situation, they deserve to be fed.

Chartwells run the local 6th form dinners, FSM got £2.30 a day so Chartwells charged £2.50 for the main meal meaning none of the kids could get it without paying more. The only thing available at that price was fries. This was in 2019, see nothing has changed with them despite the backlash they received for this alone.

[quote Takethereigns]@SendHelp30

Do you not understand that no child deserves to go hungry?

It’s not the child’s fault that their parents are addicts, or their parents can’t budget, or that their parents don’t get paid a living wage, or their parents have lost their job, or there is no childcare available for their parents to work 3 jobs, or a parent has died. ( this is not an exhaustive list as to why a child may need FSM).

Regardless of a child’s parents situation, they deserve to be fed.[/quote]
Exactly this. I don't have or want children so I will never use the FSM provision but I 100% want it to exist. I want every child to be fed and educated the best they can be. The government should remember that one day these children will have a vote and the general population should remember one day these children will be working alongside us, working for us, serving us in some way, caring us, paying our pensions etc.

Is it awful some parents don't or can't feed their children adequately? Yes, it's terrible and very sad. Should the children be the ones to bear the consequences of their parents poor choices or circumstances? No!

FEED THE CHILDREN! Bloody hell, some of the people I've seen or heard discussing this must think Oliver was a cheeky, entitled little brat for asking for more.

Also even if you don't care about children going hungry, at least care where your tax is going!