Free Meals

I thought it was just me (and all of the staff in sainsburys) who had problems.

This is the official Marcus Rashford petition.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/554276

Signed.

Just an idea. Maybe they should take away the child benefits and massively improve school meals with the money so that all children are fed daily. This would ensure the children were fed well and the money isn’t spent on other things.

My D has had food parcels/ boxes diverted to those in dire need. When she first took on her GC she was inundated with offers of food parcels but her cupboards/ fridge-freezer were already full to the gunnels with enough to choke a goat.
Kind and thoughtful as it was, she doesn't need extra and the children don't need the food during the school holidays so she crossed herself off the list.

She does have a well paid job and didn't think it right to accept something that many others needed more desperately. The kids aren't huge eaters either.

It's the holidays that are the problem, though, SilentGames when some children who would receive a free school meal may not get a proper meal at all.

I'm fine with the current set up, thanks.

SilentGames

Just an idea. Maybe they should take away the child benefits and massively improve school meals with the money so that all children are fed daily. This would ensure the children were fed well and the money isn’t spent on other things.

So how would you decide which parents to take the CB away from? Me, I’d bring back the workhouse, that’d learn ‘em

Then we could start on pensions.
Ensure it isn't spent on weed, handbags, wine or bingo.

I have since learned that my eldest daughter, never had any lunch when she was in secondary school as she refused to go through the humiliation of being separated out to receive these.
That should never have happened but I'm sure it did, quite frequently, Franbern.

I remember a friend telling me years ago that she had a child in her school whose mother did not apply for free school meals, would not even discuss it, but the child used to arrive with a packed lunch of one round of sliced white bread spread with tomato ketchup. Nothing else. She and the dinner ladies made sure they did give him a proper meal. But what happened in the holidays?

MissAdventure

Then we could start on pensions.
Ensure it isn't spent on weed, handbags, wine or bingo.

Don't check my cupboards!
At least I'm no good at bingo.

CB was a lifeline for us for several years.
It all went on food.

It doesn't even cover a fraction of what is spent here, particularly at the moment.
I'm still trying to recover from the uniform fiasco.

It wasn't all I spent on food, but it tided us over.

Uniforms and school shoes were a huge expense too.

(This sounds like a rather familiar thread)

Excellent petition. Thanks for bringing it here. I'd probably have missed it otherwise.

I was classed as a single mum with 2 children. I worked at what ever I could find during term time and then stayed home during school holidays, it was a nightmare as I had to find lunch food plus the holiday extras and during the summer think about buying new school uniform and shoes. To be clear I neither smoked nor drank and do not have a tattoo, I didnt even have a car. Anything, just anything that will help struggling parents I agree with. This entitled government should hang their heads in shame.

There are a few judgemental comments here. Just like to say that I worked as a health visitor in inner city area for 30 years and I can honestly say that there was a small minority of parents on benefits who smoked,drank and were not prioritising their children's needs. But the vast majority struggled with the limitations and sanctions of the welfare system. Many would go without meals themselves to ensure children were fed. So many stories I could tell you which would make you weep.
Children should not be going hungry,food insecurity is such a worry for parents and devastating for the children .It hurts mentally and physically. I can still remember the excitement of free school meals and feeling strong enough to take part in sport and study.

Having worked in education I have seen first hand how hungry some kids are. Those voting against free meals for children during the holidays (my own very very privileged MP included) I really wonder how they sleep at night. Petition signed.

The vouchers are for £15 a week. It's a paltry amount, but it will make a huge difference.

Apparently this is the current menu in Westminster ... could do with a much nicer font and better use of grammar in my opinion!

What I used to do in the 60's was buy a sack of potatoes from the greengrocer after the meter man had been. We had everything you could think of made with potatoes There were 6 of us altogether so it made sense. I think it cost £11 maybe less. Large breasts of lamb for Sunday dinner--1/6 !
Rest of the time it was stews, potato cakes, chips, baked potatoes, sausage and mash--the list went on.

It's the extortionate price of food that cripples lots of families. No need for it at all when there's so much waste too. It's criminal. How can a loaf of bread costing 7p increase to over £1 in some cases ?

There’s a part of me that feels no child should go hungry.

It's the extortionate price of food that cripples lots of families
I think it's the extortionate price of housing that is the problem as the proportion of income we spend on food in the UK is one of the lowest in the world.

Farmers go out of business or give up in despair because they are not being paid the proper price to cover their costs in many cases and supermarkets give them a very bad deal. Supermarkets don't fund the special deals - they force farmers to do so.

MadeinYorkshire there are no puds
Or is that a whole other sheet?

I despair, it’s so blatantly obvious that the government are playing games. Dividing the country and far from levelling up, they play mind games on people that should know better. The most obvious thing to do was say yes to providing food to children, who have no resources themselves, totally reliant on grown ups to look after them. If the immediate grownups don’t have the wherewithal/money/resources to provide that vital nutrition then it is up to the grown ups in the rest of the country to make sure that they are at the very least provided with a nutritional meal throughout the day. They didn’t agree because they like the idea of divide and rule, keep people in their place, they are so jealous that MR has become popular and now a thorn in their side. I pretty much think they are regretting the MBE being bestowed upon him, they’ve effectively shot themselves in the foot. They did it to make Themselves look good, they weren’t expecting this backlash, lack of forward planning as is the case in every thing they do.

Our council have a phone number to ring if you are short of food and they will provide some. Surely other councils must be doing this as well?