Portsmouth teen goes to Westminster to lobby for free school meals for all youngsters

Young people, supported by #FeedtheFuture campaigners, are calling on Westminster to give more children access to Free School Meals as data shows that more than 900,000 children living in poverty are currently missing out on support from the government.

The Food Foundation’s Young Food Ambassadors took their campaign to Westminster, reworking one of the most iconic political slogans in history to highlight the vast number of children missing out and target politicians as they begin to plan their election manifesto commitments.

Among the campaigners was 19-year-old Saffron from Portsmouth, who regularly speaks out about the struggles of autistic young people with food and particularly the impact of food insecurity on children on the spectrum.

The billboard used in their campaign represents the ‘queue’ of 900,000 children in poverty being denied Free School Meals – if this were a real queue of children, it would stretch 342 miles equating to the distance from London to Edinburgh.

Saffron said: “When I was at school I was one of these 900,000. My family struggled a lot financially but were just over the eligibility threshold so I didn’t qualify for a free school meals. I don’t want any other child to experience that again. That’s why I’m here campaigning on behalf of these 900,000 children missing out today.

“We are asking the politicians in Westminster to listen to us. We want them to expand the free school meal eligibility to more children across England. Like Sadiq Khan has done here in London. It’s only fair all children should get a healthy meal at school but the priority as a first step for politicians is to at least give one to the children at risk of food insecurity.”

Whilst all London primary school children are now eligible for a free school meal as of this September for one year through emergency funding provided by the London Mayor Sadiq Khan, outside of the capital, only children from households with an income below £7,400 a year (after tax, before benefits) are eligible; a threshold that has not increased since 2018.

The campaign calls on politicians from all parties to extend access to free school meals to all school children, with the first step being to immediately target children from families receiving Universal Credit.

Zoe McIntyre, advocacy manager on children’s food at The Food Foundation said: “We welcome the Mayor of London’s roll out of free school meals to primary school children in London for the next year as a measure to help families cope with the soaring cost of living. However, we mustn’t forget the hundreds of thousands of children outside the capital who are living below the poverty line but don’t qualify.

“The Food Foundation’s Young Food Ambassadors have joined the #FeedtheFuture campaign to ask MPs for an end to the unjust postcode lottery and are calling on both the Conservative and Labour parties to commit to nationally expanding the eligibility to all children as a priority for the next election.”

More information is available at foodfoundation.co.u k.