Free School Meals - Playing a part to tackle children’s food poverty

There are 4.1 million¹ children living in food poverty in the UK, which can make it difficult for vulnerable children to consume a healthy and balanced diet, as defined by the government’s Eatwell Guide². Lately, child food poverty and free school meals (FSMs) have been rightfully in the news headlines, so it is important to understand what issues are related to child food poverty and what we can do to help tackle the problem so that no child goes hungry.

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Food poverty can manifest in different ways depending on its severity, which can cause families to cut-back on healthy foods, parents skipping meals to ensure children have enough to eat or cutting back on food all together. Low prices and marketing strategies³ make unhealthy food easily accessible for families who struggle economically. The poor nutritional profile of high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) foods may support the energy needs of children in the short-term. However, in the long-term, high consumption of HFSS foods has been shown to increase the risk for malnutrition, obesity and type 2 diabetes⁴.

Moreover, food poverty influences all areas of a children’s life⁵, such as mental health, cognitive development, school grades and socialisation⁶ with some children saying that receiving FSM as a stigmatising experience⁷ by being identified as ‘poor’ by their peers.


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Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdown starting in March, it has been reported that more than 200,000 children⁸ had skipped meals due to lack of access to food during lockdown. Schools have played a big part in making sure children still have access to food through delivery and collection of school meals to their students. The FSM⁹ vouchers have also been provided throughout lockdown to help those vulnerable children; allowing eligible families to receive a £15 per week shopping voucher. However the government had set to put a stop to this once summer holidays were set to start in July.

Charities, such as Sustain and Good Law Project¹⁰, have been campaigning for the government to extend FSMs during the summer period to help households at risk of food insecurity. It has recently been passed thanks to engagement of the public and an open letter by footballer Marcus Rashford to MPs, which has allowed a 6 week extension on FSM¹¹ and can now see parents claim vouchers for about 1.3 million¹¹ children over the summer holidays.



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The news has been welcomed and is a great step forward towards tackling food poverty and insecurity seen within the UK. However, more steps are needed:

- families struggle all year round, therefore, the arrangement of the government to support children during this summer should be considered becoming established practice to overcome the holiday hunger¹².

- No Recourse to Public Funds families¹³ (NRPF - applied to families with temporary immigration status) should also be eligible and the income criterion should be rethought to include families just above the threshold who still struggle to buy food¹⁴.

- Accessibility⁸ to vouchers can be improved by allowing schools to investigate and promote suitable ways for every family to access food according to the living area and personal needs (e.g. supermarkets vouchers, cash payments, external catering).

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Charities/Campaigns fighting food poverty

This list comprises resources you can access for advice and projects you can support:

Child Poverty Action Group

School Food Plan Alliance

Children’s Food Campaign

Food Foundation

#ActiveAte

Breakfast Clubs

Healthy Start

The Trussell Trust

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