The government’s new nutrition strategy offers a “small” £ 250 budget for every UK public school to teach healthy eating, and ignores most of Henry Dimbleby’s plans to improve children’s nutrition, activists say.
They say a stronger response is needed with children eating microwave and cold food from schools struggling with the cost of living crisis.
An expired copy of the strategy, seen by the Guardian, shows limited ambition to tackle child poverty and obesity, with several new reports.
The White Paper is for a £ 5 million fund for the ‘school cooking revolution’, but it amounts to around £ 250 for each public school to teach students how to cook healthy food.
This disappointed activists, who hoped to take into account Henry Dimbleby’s reviews in 2020 and last year, who recommended expanding free school meals and food standards in schools.
Instead, the government has made a vague commitment to keeping free school meals under control.
Rob Percival, head of food policy at the Soil Association, said: “The most disappointing part of the White Paper is the failure to extend the right to free school meals.
“We are approaching 1 million children in poverty who do not receive free school meals. There are gaping holes in the safety net and vulnerable children are perishing.
“Currently, there are mandatory nutrition standards for both schools and hospitals, but there is no monitoring of compliance. We believe that 60% of secondary schools fail to provide the nutritional standards that children deserve.
“Catering companies are reaching a turning point where it is really difficult to maintain quality. We’ve heard reports of dishes in the microwave instead of cooked dishes to save energy costs, and serving cold dishes instead of hot dishes to save on heating costs. The government needs to step up to tackle this vital issue. “
The government’s strategy also places a strong emphasis on individual responsibility when it comes to obesity, although it is acknowledged that 64% of adults and 40% of children are overweight.
Dimbleby has recommended taxes on sugar and salt to be used to fund healthy food for the poor, but there is nothing so ambitious in the expired version of the strategy, which is expected to be released on Monday.
Right-wing think tanks celebrated the lack of a tax on sugar or salt.
Christopher Snowden, this head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said Dimbleby was “accepted by activists” and “invented crazy policies.”
Sign up for the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every weekday morning at 7am BST
He called on the government: “Stop asking people to make meaningless reviews and come up with policies yourself! These are unforced errors and completely avoided headaches. “
Maxwell Marlowe, a researcher at the Adam Smith Institute, said: “It is right for the government to postpone its proposed taxes on salt and sugar. As 80% of people say they are struggling to make ends meet, targeted increases in food prices and limited choices available to families will lead to more hunger and stress during a historic crisis.
“Furthermore, as we have seen with other sugar taxes in the past, they often do not have the desired effect, with consumers replacing it with something else or simply consuming more. Shrinkage [in which products decrease in size but the price remains the same] caused by additional levies will lead to higher sales of several packages and to the consumption of more sugar.
“Sugar consumption is constantly declining due to education and social trends. The last thing the struggling British public needs is higher prices and unfavorable incentives.
Add Comment