Would giving all children free school meals actually safe the public purse money long term?

[Kendodd]

Really good quality, highly nutritional, tailored to children's needs and vegetarian. I know this would cost a lot, but if it improves the nations health long term, would it actually cost less?

The reasons my DD at Secondary won't touch school meals are the queues to get the food and the noise and crowding in the lunch hall.

Its not just the food... schools will need capital investment to create the facilities needed.

That’s just part of school life isn’t it? Our queue used to go out the door, I used to stand and chat to friends as we waited. Happy memories.

Agree @PuttingDownRoots - the primary school where my kids went has one school hall which is used for gym, assembly, lunches and everything else. It is a total rammy trying to get 400 kids fed in 45 minutes.

It would be FAR better if the money used to give well-off kids a freebie was diverted into better quality of meals (which the well-off families could pay for if they chose) and other ways of supporting families to make good choices around food and eating.

school meals are a disaster in this country, and this "and vegetarian" bullshit really sums up why. Too many crackpots interfering with their misguided ideas about what they perceive to be a healthy diet.

children don't thrive on "a fruit and a piece of vegetable".

It would but the existing school dinners would have to be improved in quality and due to allergies, vegan is probably better than veggie.

The reality is that a lot of school dinners are thrown away because of taste, kids not liking them etc never mind basic issues like the quantity served being the same for all year groups

I am glad you have good memories.
Alas not everyone wants to stand and chat or queue for ages just to eat, hence many of the pupils making other arrangements.

Fine but they can’t complain about ‘missing out’.

Not enough time... especially high schools.. they hardly have time to eat their packed lunch.

Nope, vegan would be even worse than vegetarian, unless for specific religious or allergy reasons.

I want free school meals abolished because they are a total waste of money. We are paying catering staff, heating, cooking, cleaning, etc. Almost none of the money goes on food. I would rather increase child benefit for they families that need it, rather than paying all these salaries

It's already happening here in Wales and by the end of this year all primary school children should be getting free school lunches.

However funding for food for the most deprived children during the holidays has been axed.

I know which I would prioritise.

I don't think pupils ARE complaining about 'missing out' - they don't feel they are missing anything!

They have 30minutes to get food and eat. Packed lunch gives them a lot more time for chatting... they get to eat leisurely with their friends instead.

I think it's a reasonable idea in theory. In practice though? The food isn't nutritious when mass-produced, it isn't feasible to cater to every child's dietary requirements (vegetarian, vegan, halal, kosher, coeliac, lactose intolerant, peanut allergy, soy allergy, egg allergy, strawberry allergy, ARFID, etc.), and many children simply won't eat a school dinner and it would wind up in the bin.

It would. We’re walking into a criminal obesity crisis that’s costing an absolute fortune already and only going to get worse.

economies of scale mean it won’t be that much more to do full school meals than the ones they do now.

our children deserve nutritious food

@Naptrappedmummy unfortunately many secondary schools have ridiculously short lunchtimes (like 25 minutes) so not even time to queue and actually eat.
@Kendodd I don't think it would work. A lot of children who already are entitled to free school meals take a packed lunch because they won't eat the school dinners. A lot of the school food is chucked away.

I think this would be a great idea and wonder why it hasn't been done, but unfortunate that ship has sailed given how fussy everyone is with their allergies and intolerances and generally being fussy. It would be an impossible task to provide food for children now

I honestly feel that it's unrealistic to provide every one of those dietary requirements at mainstream non-religious schools.

My DDS school offer free bagel/toast to all children every morning.

I think that's actually a better idea as it sets them up for the day well.

I know as a teen I never wanted breakfast before school but by the time I'd walked there I was absolutely starving.

@Kendodd maybe it would work if it was basically like a packed lunch but free.
A range of sandwiches, wraps, fruit, yogurts etc.
They would more likely to be eaten.

our children deserve nutritious food

They do, @CatPancake. But why is it the school's responsibility to provide that? Children are in school 190 days a year, so a school lunch is only a small percentage of their total meals over the course of the year.

I think they need to concentrate on improving the quality of the food served. The choices should all be healthy choices.

2 meals offered, both of them "healthyish" meals.

There is no harm in a bit of pizza, if they are only having it once a week with some veg and rice or something.
Sausage rolls, i believe, are just rubbish and shouldn't be an option.

Our school on has chips once a week but some of the food looks a bit questionable, hard shrivelled up pizza 🤢 the kids still pick it but then only eat a bit as the crusts are too hard.

Our DS has school meals as hes not old enough to pay yet, and there school had everything homemade except the fish fingers on a friday. They have bolognaise, chilli, pasta bakes, meat dinners etc jacket potatoes are always am option with tuna or cheese and beans.

I think you are a bit misinformed - some allergies can be really serious, even life threatening, and is nothing to do with 'being fussy'.
I do think though that schools cannot possibly be expected to provide meals to suit every allergy, every religious restriction, etc., for free. That's unrealistic.

@Wasbedeudetetdas beyond Halal and Kosher none of those listed are anything to do with religion 🙄

I don’t think it ought to be universal. Those who can afford to pay, should, with a genuinely realistic cut off.
Yes, a decent meal every day will make a difference to long term health.