Mum says ‘little difference’ in topped-up food parcels after free school meals row
A mum-of-two who received a topped-up free school meals package this week claims the main difference is two tins of baked beans.
The single parent said she is still far from impressed by the parcel, the first she has received since the national outcry over the provisions, after which they were expected to be improved.
She picked up the hamper yesterday on behalf of her 10-year-old daughter, whose school uses Chartwells as its food caterer.
The mum-of-two said: ‘It’s better than nothing but certainly not brilliant and falls short again of the £10.50 it’s supposedly worth.
‘I would say at cost price there’s around £6 to £7 pounds worth of food. Other than the two extra tins of beans and two carrots it’s the same as before.’
The 54-year-old, from Crawley, West Sussex, said the five-day parcel also contained three mini Soreen malt loaves, three yoghurts, a loaf of bread, three potatoes, a small block of cheese and tomatoes and apples.
Chartwells is due to launch ‘enhanced’ free school meals parcels on Monday but told Metro.co.uk it has been topping up existing packages where possible for the rest of this week.
The mum, who did not want to be named, said it was the first package she has received since the blizzard of protests began on social media four days ago about the standard of the parcels provided by the company.
She has also received the hampers in the previous two lockdowns and has a 13-year-old daughter who is allocated food vouchers by another school.
The mum said: ‘The quality is best described as the cheapest you can get. There’s been no thought whatsoever, they just chuck whatever they can chuck in. There’s a recipe card but I don’t know why you would need to be told what to do with those ingredients.
‘It’s like they’re throwing a bag of stuff at you and telling you to make what you can out of it.
‘It feels like an afterthought. I’m not ungrateful but I would be really annoyed if I had to pay for it.
‘The vouchers work far better because at least you can get value for money.’
The mum spoke as celebrity chefs backed a call for a wider overhaul of free school meals.
Footballer Marcus Rashford was joined by prominent figures including Jamie Oliver, Tom Kerridge and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in signing a letter to Boris Johnson.
Charity and educational leaders were among dozens of others who put their names to the call for a policy review in the way food is provided to impoverished families.
Chartwells has been embroiled in a storm over the standard of its free school meals, which began when a picture showing the contents of a parcel was posted on Twitter.
The UK’s biggest schools caterer has said it will refund costs where its service has fallen short and that from Monday it will add ‘every penny’ from an extra £3.50 of funding per child from the Government to the supplies.
The company has also promised to include a breakfast free of charge in the new hampers until schools reopen.
A spokesperson said previously: ‘We have had time to investigate the picture circulated on Twitter. For clarity this shows five days of free school lunches (not ten days) and the charge for food, packing and distribution was actually £10.50 and not £30 as suggested.
‘However, in our efforts to provide thousands of food parcels a week at extremely short notice we are very sorry the quantity has fallen short in this instance. Our ten-day food parcels typically include a wide variety of nutritious food items to support the provision of lunches for children.’
Responding to the letter, Downing Street said: ‘It is great that celebrities and groups across society see the importance of school food.
‘The PM thanks Marcus Rashford for his letter and will reply soon. School food is essential in supporting the health and learning of the most disadvantaged pupils.
‘The prime minister has been clear that no child will ever go hungry as a result of the pandemic.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.