From food parcels to hot dinners, this is how charities are rallying to feed children without free school meals
Thousands of families across the country breathed a collective sigh of relief this week. The government’s backtracking on the withdrawal of its school meal voucher scheme (thanks, in part, to footballer Marcus Rashford’s campaign) was a triumph for many. But while these £15-a-week vouchers (designed only to cover five lunches a week) are a step in the right direction, they fail to plug – by a long shot – the gaping hole in our food system that’s burdening millions of children.
Covid-19 has impacted the UK’s food landscape in ways that are difficult for many of us to comprehend. For others, the fallout couldn’t be more tangible. There are 2.4 million children living in households with unreliable access to food. Of those, 2 million have either relied on low-cost food or unbalanced meals, not had enough to eat, or skipped meals altogether.