UK schoolchildren becoming more food insecure: report
According to the Guardian, a forthcoming research has discovered that English schoolchildren are experiencing food hardship, with some hiding in the playground because they cannot afford lunch.
The report will be released the next month by Cooks in Schools, a nonprofit organisation that promotes healthy eating and employs chefs in school kitchens.
According to the charity, a child was “pretending to eat out of an empty lunchbox” at one southeast London school because they did not want their peers to find out that they did not have food at home.
Two factors lie at the heart of the food insecurity dilemma in schools: the first is the burden on school budgets brought on by rising energy costs, and the second is the ability to qualify for free school meals.
From kindergarten through second grade, all students in England are entitled to free school meals; however, students in grades three through eight are only eligible if their parents make less than £7,400 per year.
According to the Child Poverty Action Group, this disqualifies 800,000 low-income kids from receiving these free school lunches.
UK schoolchildren becoming more food insecure: report
Chefs in Schools CEO Naomi Duncan stated: “We are hearing about youngsters who are so hungry they are eating rubbers in class.”
“Kids are arriving at school without having eaten since lunch the day before. The government must take action,” she continued.
Duncan demanded that all children from households receiving universal credit, or welfare assistance, be entitled to free school lunches. The teachers unions supported this stance.
“It’s really heartbreaking for our chefs, she continued.” They deliberately search for and feed the children hiding in the playground because they don’t believe they can obtain a meal.
The government is aware that when children arrive at school hungry and cold in the morning, the school will step in and provide assistance, according to Paul Gosling, head of the National Association of Headteachers union. But it’s unfair that we are being left on our own without any additional assistance.
By nominal GDP, the UK has the sixth-largest economy in the world.
