Marcus Rashford: UK businesses helping to provide free meals
The campaigning Manchester United and England footballer shared pictures of one paltry offering that was meant to feed a youngster for 10 days. An angry mother valued the contents of the parcel at no more than £5.22 if the items were purchased separately at budget supermarket Asda. Inside were two jacket potatoes, a can of baked beans, eight single cheese slices, a loaf of bread, two carrots, three apples, two malt loaves, three tubs of yogurt, pasta and a tomato. She said: “Issued instead of £30 vouchers. I could do more with £30 to be honest.”
Rashford, 23, who forced the Government to continue free school meals throughout the summer and Christmas holidays, said: “If families are entitled to £30 worth of food, why is their delivery only equating to just over £5? One child, or three, this what they are receiving? Unacceptable.
“Children deserve better than this.”
He added: “Then imagine we expect the children to engage in learning from home. Not to mention the parents who, at times, have to teach them who probably haven’t eaten at all so their children can. We must do better.
Yesterday Downing Street said the contents of some of the parcels sent to families were “completely unacceptable”. Children’s Minister Vicky Ford promised to look into the matter.
Mark Rashford said the parcels sent to families are ‘unacceptable’ (Image: NC)
On Twitter, Rashford shared images of the type of parcels being delivered. One contained two cans of baked beans, two bananas, half a pepper, slices of bread, one potato, one carrot, two eggs, one onion and two bags of cheese and pasta. Another showed three fruit cartons, four apples, a tin of baked beans, raisins and snacks.
Food parcels have been brought in to replace £30 vouchers that were given to parents to spend in supermarkets after schools closed during lockdown.
But campaigners said parents could do more with the cash rather than relying on the type of food boxes shown.
Simon Young, 50, from Cheltenham, Glos, said the parcel he received was barely enough to feed daughter Lola, 11, for three days. It contained a loaf of bread, three slices of cheese, two slices of ham, two packets of crisps, an apple, a pear and two slices of cake.
He said: “To see what food we were given, my first reaction was to laugh at how tiny the portions were. I remember thinking ‘this is an absolute joke’.”
Christa Lee, 39, from Bourne-mouth, was shocked at the food package for her 17-year-old. It included a third of an onion.
She said: “This tells our children they do not matter. That all they are worth is food in unsafe packaging that will leave them hungry.”
Food hampers are being distributed to provide 10 lunch meals per child across two weeks.
Some are supplied by Chartwells, part of the Compass Group food service company, which has been contracted by the Department for Education. Last year Compass, whose chief executive is Dominic Blakemore, 51, recorded operating profits of £1.88billion against revenue of £25billion.
An angry mother valued the contents of the parcel at no more than £5.22 (Image: NC )
On Monday, Mr Blakemore signed the Prince of Wales’ Terra Carta initiative in which he pledged to deliver a positive impact for nature, people and the planet.
Chartwells said the amount of food did not “reflect the specification of one of our hampers” and promised to investigate.
The scandal prompted the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health to write to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson calling for an urgent review of food packages sent to families as part of the programme.
Spokesman Dr Max Davie said: “In the last 24 hours, we’ve seen multiple examples of food parcels provided to families through the free school meals programme.
“As a paediatrician, I can say the contents are not nutritionally sufficient for children and young people. Children who rely on free school meals have worse health outcomes than their peers and deserve proper help. The examples shared are an insult to the dignity of people who rely on this support.
Mark Rashford forced the Government to continue free school meals throughout the Christmas holidays (Image: PA)
“We call on the Government to urgently review its supplier list and to provide the resource needed for local authorities to offer flexibility for families in how they want to receive this vital support.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We’re aware of those images circulating on social media and it is clear the contents of those food parcels are completely unacceptable.
“The Department for Education is looking into this urgently and [Ms Ford] is speaking to the company responsible and they will be making it clear that boxes like this should not be given to families.”
The Department for Education said: “Parcels should be nutritious and contain a varied range of food.”
