Free School Meals
- thomasjlb10
- Jan 12, 2021
- 3 min read
Throughout the UK, families living in poverty, have an option of free school meals. If you are unaware this is where the government provides money to the families to help pay for the children who can not afford lunches. In the first lockdown, these families were given free school meal vouchers to help pay for their food, however now in January, these families are receiving pre-made lunch bags, which has caught the attention of the internet.
Currently, the children who need Free school meals are receiving simply not enough. The government is providing paper bags with food, supposedly meant to last up to 10 days. The image below has taken to the internet and caused rage amongst members of the public.
A parent of a child on free school meals posted the image to social media. We can clearly see this is simply not enough food to last almost 2 weeks. #freeschoolmeals have provided 2 days of jacket potato and beans, 8 cheese sandwiches, carrots, apples, soreen, frubes, and a few other bits. Initially, these families were given a £30 voucher to provide their child with food. It's simple to say that any supermarket in the UK can easily provide all this food for under £30. These children are starving. the government has the power to do something about it, however because of their greed they deliberately decide not to. Safe to say the comments of this post were that of rage and fury.
"Utter disgusting" "Just another scam the Torys are using for money" "Prison inmates get more than that, and they did something wrong" "I have to go and collect mine, meaning 4 busses to and from the school, in a pandemic, plus it would cost me more in buss fairs, so I had to decline what I was entitled to" "shame on them" are some of the comments left on the Instagram post by @zarahsultanamp (original tweet by @roadsidemum)
It's not a political matter at this point, it humans rights. Everyone deserves food and the right amount of it. Not just the top 25% of earners. At ASDA supermarket these 'meals' would cost around £5.30. so where is the rest of the money from taxes going?
It's a very good question with a very simple answer. The government gives themselves a £25 food voucher, every day. This is on top of their salary already. They are giving these children less than 30p a day for their food. It simply comes down to greed. The government always wanting more instead of helping those who actually are in need. It confuses me how people with so much power can be so unthoughtful and selfish.
If you're still thinking "well it's okay, they are getting some food" I would like you to think about the food you eat in a day. Chances are it's a lot more than these children. In addition to this, these children need food. They are in vital stages of development and growth. Lots of us have the chance to open up the cupboard door or see what's in the fridge when we get a small bit of hunger. These children are living in hunger and danger for hours and hours with nothing to get them through it.
Our government is being selfish. Continuing to make irresponsible decisions like this, which is risking people's health and potentially lives. Times are difficult as it is for us all but not having enough food is just another added stress to people's lives.
The government needs to be giving each and every one of these families at least £20 a week. It's unfair how they being deprived of food because of the government's irresponsible behavior.
Please sign this petition to try and make a difference
thomasjlblog
12th January 2021
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