Latest news with #schoollunch
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
School meals smaller and have less meat due to cost, caterers say
School children are getting less meat, cheaper ingredients and smaller portions in their lunches as caterers battle rising costs, the new chair of a school food organisation has Hales, incoming chair of LACA, said schools were increasingly having to bridge the gap between government funding for free school meals and the rising cost of delivering dinner for all of their comes after the government said it would expand free school meals, which Mr Hales said was "welcome", but added that more funding would be "essential".The Department for Education (DfE) said the "fully funded" expansion of free school meals was a "historic step to tackle the stain of child poverty". A spokesperson added the government would keep the meal rates paid to schools, which fund free school meals, under review. In April, the government said those rates would rise by 3p in the next academic year, from £2.58 to £2.61 per meal - a rise which Mr Hales said was "inadequate" and "almost considered an insult".He said it meant caterers who were part of LACA and provided about three million school dinners a day, were having to make "really difficult decisions" over portion sizes, and the quality of ingredients they could said it was becoming an "ever increasing challenge" to meet the government's school food standards, which officials said they were looking to "revise" with input from sector Stoke-on-Trent, head teacher Clare Morton said she was spending £45,000 per year topping up the money she received from the government to pay for free school money could be spent on another member of staff at St Mary's Primary School, she said, but added it was vitally important all the children were well fed."For a lot of our children, this is the only hot meal that they will get during the day," she said."Without healthy food, without a full tummy, these children won't be able to learn." In England, the government will pay primary schools £2.61 per meal in 2025-26 to deliver its universal infant free school meals scheme, which makes all children from reception up to Year 2, regardless of household income, eligible for a free school Year 2, primary and secondary schools also get additional pupil premium funding from government for each of their pupils who gets a free school meal. Currently, children qualify for a free school meal if their family is on Universal Credit and earns under £7,400 a June, the government announced that it would be changing that eligibility criteria to make all children whose families are on Universal Credit, regardless of household income, eligible for a free school meal from September change would mean 500,000 more children qualify for a free school meal, the government Morton said it was "fantastic" more children would be eligible, but added the government "needs to acknowledge that there's a gap between what the school are actually getting and how much it costs to feed the children". Currently, the money her school needs to fund that gap is supported by 72 parents who pay for their child's school meal. As the free school meals scheme expands and more children become eligible, that income will be "wiped out", she government's 3p meal rate increase "really isn't enough" to make up any of the school's £45,000 food deficit, she Hales said a recent survey of its members suggested the real cost of delivering a meal was actually more like £3.45 - roughly 80p more than the £2.61 given to schools to fund free school meals in said it sent its annual cost of living survey to 500 members. The 67 who responded said they catered for a total of 5,689 schools with a total pupil population of roughly 1.3 million. Overall, England has approximately 24,000 state schools with an overall pupil population of just over nine million. Of the 67 schools, councils and private catering firms who responded to the LACA survey:17 said they had decreased some portion sizes35 said they had cut some menu options38 said they had reduced some meats with cheaper protein sources56 said they had adjusted their recipesLACA said its survey also suggested that, since March 2020, the amount paid for school dinners by parents whose children were not eligible for free school meals had increased by 20%.Mr Hales said that could continue to rise if schools were unable to meet rising costs with increased government Mandy Mazliah, from Cambridgeshire, said she had concerns about the nutritional value of her children's school 45-year-old, who runs a food blog and is a parent ambassador for a children's food campaign, said her children, aged between 10 and 15, have a mix of packed lunches and dinners provided for them at said the school food could vary between healthy, balanced meals and pizzas, cookies and donuts, and in some cases portion sizes had been getting smaller."What we need is proper investment from the government in healthy school meals, and in fact a whole school food approach to make it more affordable for schools to provide nutritious, appealing, healthy food for all of our children," she added. Provision of free school meals varies significantly across the London and Wales, the offer of a universal free school meal has been extended to all primary school children up to Year the funding rate for most of England is £2.61, in London schools get a higher rate of £3. In Wales, the rate is £ Scotland, all children in the first five years of primary school are eligible for free school meals, as well as all children from families receiving the Scottish Child Payment in Northern Ireland can apply if they receive certain benefits and are below an income threshold of £15, reporting by Rahib Khan
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
New Bedford principals, American Cruise Lines, fatal car crash: New Bedford top stories
As we head into a new week, let's take a look at the news from this past week. New Bedford Public Schools' new central kitchen — named the Culinary and Nutrition Center — at 453 North St., officially opened this week. The state-of-the-art kitchen will serve about 15,000 students during the school year, including some at charter and parochial schools, as well as local youth programming at places like the YMCA. The U.S. Coast Guard is considering removing navigational buoys off the coast of southeastern Massachusetts, citing modern navigation technology. Local officials and harbormasters oppose the removal, arguing that buoys provide crucial visual confirmation, especially for recreational boaters and in areas with unreliable cell service. Make sure to keep up with high school sports with scores, game highlights, and Player of the Week voting at And here are the most-read stories of the week on In the 2025-2026 school year, four of New Bedford Public Schools' elementary schools will have new building leadership. There are incoming principals for Rodman, Gomes, Carney Academy and Jacobs elementary schools. The Standard-Times recently met with Jacell Suarez, Rodman Elementary School; Martin Quirk, Gomes Elementary School; Brian Coon, Jacobs Elementary School; and Andrea Abreu, Carney Academy Elementary School. Get to know them: Four New Bedford elementary schools are getting new principals. American Cruise Lines first docked in New Bedford about a quarter-century ago so patrons could soak up local history and culture along with the summer sun. This year, American Cruise Lines is expected to make more than 50 stops in New Bedford as part of its New England Islands and Cape Codder cruises, up from 36 trips in 2024 and 25 stops in 2023. How much does a New England trip cost? American Cruise Lines expands stops in New Bedford. A 41-year-old New Bedford man was killed in a two-car motor vehicle crash on the New Bedford-Fairhaven Bridge. At approximately 11 a.m. July 2, New Bedford Police and EMS received a 911 call regarding a serious motor vehicle crash on the bridge, according to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office. One of the drivers was identified as 41-year-old Gregory Crook McGuire of New Bedford. Crook McGuire was transported to St. Luke's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later. New Bedford-Fairhaven Bridge crash: 41-year-old New Bedford man killed The Whaling City Festival is ready to kick off another season of celebrating New Bedford. From July 10 to 13, Buttonwood Park will feature carnival rides, tons of food stands and plenty of activities for the whole family. The four-day event features a carnival by Fiesta Shows, LivePro Wrestling by New England Ring Gladiators, food vendors, retail vendors, arts and crafts vendors and on July 13 the ever-popular Car Show presented by Showoff Showboards. Here's what to expect: Whaling City Festival in New Bedford returns July 10. The plans for New Bedford State Pier's redevelopment continue to be a work in progress, but it would appear the Cuttyhunk Ferry will remain, come heck or high water. That was a relief to most of the audience who attended MassDevelopment's public meeting on July 1 at the New Bedford Whaling Museum Auditorium to present a draft study of possible State Pier tenants in the future. Cuttyhunk Ferry staying put: New Bedford State Pier plans still taking shape Read these stories in their entirety at This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: New Bedford top stories: Cuttyhunk Ferry, Whaling City Festival
CTV News
03-07-2025
- General
- CTV News
Nova Scotia served more than 4.7M lunches to students last school year
The Nova Scotia School Lunch Program served thousands of students in 2024-2025. (Source: Province of Nova Scotia) Nova Scotia served more than 4.7 million lunches to students in the first year of its school food program, which is aiming to expand across the province in the fall. The province says the Nova Scotia School Lunch Program was available to more than 75,000 students in 256 schools during the 2024-2025 academic year. The bulk of the orders in the program came from the Halifax Regional Centre for Education, which served nearly two million lunches. The most popular item was cheese pizza, which had 390,000 servings. West Bedford School ordered the most lunches at 73,000 while Pleasant Bay School in Inverness County saw the highest consistent program participation at 80 per cent of the students. 'I am thrilled with the success of the first year of the Nova Scotia School Lunch Program and can't wait for school communities to see a bigger and better program next fall,' said Brendan Maguire, minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, in a news release. Nova Scotia is receiving $12.4 million over three years through the National School Food Program to enhance school food initiatives. Next school year, the province is spending $80 million on the program, which is expanding to all middle and junior high schools, serving more than 104,000 students at 334 schools. The program will also make changes this fall, including: improved delivery and service standards sustainable packaging kid-approved menu options a more seamless ordering experience For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
RNZ News
01-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
How good have school lunches been in term two?
David Seymour says the programme is now a success, but he hasn't convinced some principals who see their pupils lose interest in eating them. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The school lunch programme has been a "success by any measure" in term two, says the minister in charge, citing numbers that show complaints are down and on-time deliveries are up. But the opposition says the programme has not been fixed, and a school principal is pointing out that the issue of quality has not been resolved. Chris Patel, principal of Kopuarahi school near Thames, told RNZ it was "really sad" children no longer anticipated meal time like they did during the previous lunch programme. She said complaints might be down because schools were resigned to the current programme. Associate Education Minister David Seymour launched a cut-price version of the scheme this year , but it was plagued by reports of late, inedible, repetitive and nutritionally questionable lunches. One meal contained melted plastic, another left a student with burns. The Auditor-General's office had announced plans for an inquiry into the programme after concerns were raised both in the media and directly with them. In May, the Auditor-General's office announced plans for an inquiry into the school lunch programme that has drawn criticism since a revamp. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi Seymour told RNZ he marked himself 8/10 for Term 2, compared to a 4/10 for Term 1 "at best". "Yes, there were problems. We owned them. We never denied them, and we fixed them. I think that there's a very good story in that," said Seymour. He pointed to the stats from the last term showing more than 98 percent of lunches were delivered on time each day, and complaints were down by 92 percent since March. He also said student satisfaction was at 67 percent, up from 46 percent the previous term, and pondered the lack of media coverage "now the programme is a success". He explained the programme got more trucks and streamlined delivery routes to help deliver lunches on time. Equipment was also upgraded, and staff numbers increased "to increase meal production and control quality better". "Production is now exceeding daily targets, and two million meals are expected to be ready for distribution by the start of Term 3." He called the programme a "real triumph", pointing to the amount of money saved by the taxpayer. "We took on one of the most ambitious challenges and programs that New Zealand has ever seen in the food industry in order to save the taxpayer $170 million a year. "The way that people view it, I believe, says more about people's disposition towards ambition and problem solving than the scheme itself." He said if the previous Labour government had "done it our way", there would be $800 million less debt on the government's books, "debt that unfortunately will be inherited by the very children at school today". He said since the beginning of Term 1 this year, more than 13.8 million nutritious meals had been delivered to 242,000 students in 1011 schools. "This marks the first time a single national supplier has provided meals at such scale, let alone meals which children enjoy, are nutritious, and are delivered on time." But Labour's education spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime did not accept the programme was fixed. Labour Party education spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith "David Seymour said that everything would be sorted by term two for the debacle that has been the school lunch programme, and he's boasting delivery times as one of the key metrics." She also pointed out there had been such a high level of complaints to start with, a "92 percent drop still means there's a significant amount of complaints that are being made", She criticised these metrics as a measure for considering the success of the programme, and said there was a seeming lack of transparency from the minister around the issue of wastage. "We have been trying to get the information from the minister about the level of waste, and he refuses to tell us what is going into pig buckets and only what is being returned unopened and uneaten." Information gathered by Labour pointed to about 200,000 lunches returned in one half of term two. The party said at $3 per lunch, that amounted to nearly $600,000 wasted. "We have seen children not eating their lunches, not having full tummies and therefore reaching their learning potential," Prime said. "This minister is looking at this particular initiative as an economic initiative, as opposed to an education initiative. "He is simply looking at how much savings can be made from this programme and giving our children the scraps." Prime gave both term one and term two a "thumbs down". Chris Patel, principal of Kopuarahi school near Thames, acknowledged the numbers looked better this term, but said less complaints might just mean schools were resigned to the programme. She sent daily messages to those in charge in term one, and said some of her colleagues were surprised she'd kept up that process. "I think there's a meal fatigue. "You know that no amount of giving feedback is going to make a difference, so... what's the point." Patel wanted the programme to succeed but only gave term two a mark of 3.5/10. That's up only slightly from 2/10 in term one. "As much as it's sad that we've got the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, I really do want it to succeed." Part of her frustration, she said, was going from a system that had been working for the children at her school to one that was not really working now. For Patel, and her students, it came down to an issue of quality and palatability. "Despite I think the best intentions the School Lunch Collective may have, there's been very little movement on the quality of and palatability of the meals." Her students would often only have "one, two, three, four mouthfuls" she said, despite sometimes having no food of their own. "These are children who are hungry. "Most of them come to school with some food from home or little or in a couple of cases, no food from home for one reason or another." Patel said it was about how the country valued children. "It says a lot about how we really don't value our kids, how we really don't value what we're doing to them. "We're spending a lot of money and there's a - a lot of food is wasted. It's not filling their tummies, it's not doing - it's not hitting the spot. It's not doing what it was designed to do." She said thought the problem was creating meals in bulk. "You can tell that they're made in bulk, they're not made with love. "So it's all very well for minister Seymour and the prime minister to say, we're providing a meal, but if 60-80 percent of that meal goes back in the container it was delivered in... I question that. How sustainable is that? "This is not about fussy kids." Patel questioned what sort of "benchmark" on-time deliveries was. "Yes, timeliness of delivery really is crucial. But actually the purpose of the lunches, is to build attendance, engagement and student achievement. "Help take barriers away from kids learning." Seymour said taste testing was underway for term three and so far there'd been 73 percent positive feedback. 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CTV News
30-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
‘Think about those kids': Start of summer means an end to school lunch programs for students
The end of the school year also means an end to school lunch programs for the summer. Charities that provide food for those in need say they are worried about the difficulties this could present for children that rely on these lunches. 'I just think about those kids that won't get that food for two months and what that will mean for them,' says Michelle Porter, Soul's Harbour Rescue Mission CEO. Organizations like Souls Harbour Rescue Mission are concerned about the number of children that go hungry in our region. 'One thing we are seeing at our Halifax location, as well as our other locations, is an increase in children coming for meals specifically because it's summertime. Because you have kids that aren't fortunate enough to go to summer camps, so where do they come – the mission,' adds Porter. Demand continues to grow Other charities, like Parker Street Food and Furniture Bank, are also seeing a growth in demand. 'It's not just single parent families with one income, it's not just people with low income, it's not just people living on the bare minimum. It's people that are working probably good jobs, but they are having to make a choice now because everything else around them that surrounds taking care of themselves is so expensive that the food bank becomes the option for them,' said Romaine Rhoden, director of donor relations at the Parker Street Food and Furniture Bank. Parker Street Food and Furniture Bank provides around 100 food boxes a day to families in need. In addition, they also have both children and parents stopping by daily for snacks and drinks. 'For the last couple of months, we have seen a slight increase in our clientele which tells me there is still a great need within the municipality for our food services,' says Rhoden. More children using food bank services Although they do not provide food to children directly, Rhoden says they are seeing a number of families with children using their services. 'Within the last couple of months, we have seen maybe a ten per cent increase of clientele with families with children,' said Rhoden. The boxes they supply are intended to last a couple of days but with school being out and kids home for summer, they are trying to add more to their boxes. 'We now have to think about extending that box and giving much more than we normally give,' says Rhoden. What these groups are seeing in their lineups supports the findings in a December 2024 report that shed light on the staggering number of children going hungry within the region. 'We think it's a growing problem in Halifax and here at Parker Street you can tell because of the clientele and the long lines you see every single day. You can tell by the number of deliveries that we have to do on a Tuesday. You can tell based on the number of food that we have been trying to garner for,' said Rhoden. Souls Harbour has seen such an increase in demand for their services that they recently opened another location in Sydney, N.S. 'Something that surprised me with the Souls Harbour that just opened in New Waterford, N.S., is that we are already seeing 60 to 80 people a day and we have only been open for weeks, the need is great,' says Porter. Both of these organizations are always looking for donations and support from the public, in the form of food, clothing and funds. People can donate, by dropping things off at their locations or donating online through their websites. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
