Cost of living crisis: 1.8 million children facing poorer quality school meals as food costs rise
Some 1.8 million children face poorer quality school meals as a result of the rising cost of food, according to a new survey.
LACA, the school caterers trade body, says food prices have risen by 30% since May 2022, resulting in 28% of school caterers now using more processed foods.
More than a third of its members are also considering switching from British to imported meat.
Dersingham School in Newham, one of London’s most deprived boroughs, is set to launch a new menu after the autumn half-term holiday.
“We’re very proud that all the meat that we use in school meals is UK sourced, but that’s something we might need to reconsider moving forward,” explains Michael Hales, the managing director at Juniper Ventures, which provides catering for Dersingham.
“We’re also currently cooking everything from scratch, but again, we’re having to introduce some processed foods into our sauces moving forward,” he tells Sky News.
“The price of food has rocketed this year, some items have gone up by 50%. That’s having an enormous challenge on being able to deliver meals that meet the school meals guidelines each day.”
Michael Hales, managing director at Juniper Ventures
‘You can’t teach children on empty bellies’
Dersingham’s headteacher Lando Du Plooy explained that poor diets result in poor learning.
“You can’t teach children on empty bellies, you can’t make any impact on their teaching and learning if the children are hungry,” he told Sky News.
“If the impact then cascades and gets to the children, and we then start churning out fast food, low quality meals that are not healthy for the children, it then creates the whole issue around the obesity challenge that we’re trying to tackle, the challenge of unhealthy meals and unhealthy habits that they lead to later on in life.”
Dersingham’s headteacher Lando Du Plooy
LACA’s chairman Brad Pearce has called on the government to help.
“Without an increase in school meal funding the most vulnerable children in our society will go without, possibly, their only hot, healthy, and nutritious meal of the day,” he said.
“We are also urging the government to raise the FSM (free school meals) entitlement threshold to all children whose parents are on Universal Credit, to ensure that no child misses out on a school lunch.
“A hungry child cannot learn, but for too many children this could soon become their reality.”
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Prices of cheapest foods surge
What does the government say?
A spokesperson for the government said: “We have expanded access to free school meals more than any other government in recent decades, which currently reach 1.9 million children.
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“We are also supporting schools with £53.8bn in core funding this year and a £4bn increase in overall funding from 2021-22.
“The chancellor has unveiled a new growth plan, taking decisive action to get households and businesses through this winter and the next, by growing the economy to raise living standards for everyone.”
Comedy writer Bill Dare, – who worked on shows including Spitting Image and Dead Ringers – has died after an accident overseas, his agent said.
Described as a “super producer” by his peers, Dare, 64, worked on eight series of hugely popular satire puppet show Spitting Image.
Airing on ITV during the 1980s and 1990s, the show delighted in lampooning public figures including politicians, celebrities and royalty, winning BAFTAs and Emmys. It was rebooted in 2020.
Dare also created Dead Ringers, a comedy impressions show broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
He also produced The Now Show, a satirical take on the news which ran on Radio 4 from 1998 to 2024.
Dare worked on a wide range of comedy shows during his career, including the radio production of The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He had also written several novels.
In a statement released on Monday, his agent JFL Agency confirmed he died at the weekend.
A spokesperson said: “We are shocked and greatly saddened to have to announce the death of our brilliant client Bill Dare, who died at the weekend following an accident overseas.
“Our thoughts are with his wife Lucy, daughter Rebecca, and with all of Bill’s family and friends who will be devastated by his loss.
“Bill was a truly legendary producer and writer, and his comedy instincts were second to none.”
Oasis depicted on Spitting Image in 1996. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
Colleagues were quick to pay tribute and reflect on his talent.
Impressionist Jon Culshaw wrote on X: “It’s impossible to express the unreal sense of loss at the passing of the incredible Bill Dare. The wisest comedy alchemist and the dearest, dearest friend. Much love to Lucy and all Bill’s family and friends. We shall all miss him more than we can say.”
David Baddiel posted on the social media platform: “Just heard that the original producer of The Mary Whitehouse Experience on radio, Bill Dare, has died. Bill was an amazing creative force. I owe him much. RIP.”
Former EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman said she was “devastated” and that her “entire comedy career was down to Bill”.
She wrote: “When I was on the BBC Radio 4 rep company early on in career – I ran into Bill in the corridors – He asked if I was good at accents. I said yes.
“He cast me in a sketch show. I had to do about 15 different accents. We recorded in front of a live audience at Broadcasting House – afterwards Bill said ‘Why have I never met you – you’re going to have a big career’.
“He was incredibly loyal and supportive and really opened a path for me into the R4 comedy world and then TV having come out of the RSC and theatre it was all new. I will always be grateful. Fly high Bill.”
Comedian and writer Mark Steel wrote: “This is so grim. Bill was a compassionate hearty soul with the ability to be beautifully grumpy, a marvellously thoughtful comic mind.
“He’d argue but always listen and you’d always laugh, he made a million shows and wanted them all to matter and would have made a million more.”
Have I Got News for You writer Pete Sinclair said: “I am utterly devastated by Bill’s death. I still can’t believe it. He was a comedy genius. A hugely talented writer as well as a brilliant producer. A close friend and co-writer. I cannot begin to say how much I’ll miss him.”
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Julia McKenzie, comedy commissioner for Radio 4, said: “I am so terribly sorry to hear this tragic news and my thoughts are with Bill’s wife, family and friends.
“Bill has been a huge part of Radio 4 comedy for decades, as a writer and producer, and listeners will have heard his legendary name at the end of many of their favourite shows.
“Bill was a comedy obsessive, and very instinctive about making the funniest choices when it came to writing, directing and editing.
“He cared so much about his work that in the production booth during Dead Ringers you’d see him crouched over the script, utterly focused on the show.
“He was funny and very dry in person, amusingly cynical when he needed to be and always pushed to keep the comedy he made, and particularly satire, spiky.
“I’ve known and worked with him for 18 years and like many I can’t believe he has gone, he will leave a big hole in the comedy world and in our hearts.”
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