The Outcry Over U.K.'s £30 Food Parcels
- Serafina Hills
- Jun 9, 2021
- 3 min read
How the most vulnerable children in the U.K. are exploited for profit:
In the U.K., the children whose parents receive benefits from the welfare state are provided with free school meals. However, since October 2020, it has been an endless battle for the government to offer these free school meals to the same children in national lockdown because of COVID-19. It has hardly been an easy battle, either, exposing the U.K. government’s true colours.
In the summer of 2020, Marcus Rashford, an English footballer who previously had free school meals himself, campaigned for meals for children in the summer holidays. In October 2020, for the October half term, the government voted on whether to provide these again. 320 of 325 Tory MPs voted against this movement, including Boris Johnson, the prime minister, and many more notable members. Of the five who voted ‘aye,’ 1 has since resigned. Not a single member from a party other than Tory and a singular independent MP voted no. However, this is only the old news to this outrage.
Marcus Rashford continued to work and campaign for free school meals until the government finally gave in. They worked with multiple private catering companies to provide £30 worth of food in a food parcel. This was rumoured to be for a week or two; however, the parcels provided were pitiful. Pictures shared on social media showed the parcels, which varied in size, but the general message was clearly demonstrated: these private companies did not care for the audience they were catering to. One small food parcel contained pasta with no sauce, and others held food put in plastic bags to split it into smaller portions. One Twitter user counted up the food prices from his local Aldi and found it to make £5.22, meaning the private companies profited a whopping £24.78 from each hamper provided to hungry children, previously dependent on free school meals.
Chartwells - the catering company responsible :
Multiple companies were provided with government contracts to disperse these parcels. However, the main company providing these unacceptable parcels was Chartwells Catering Company, overseen Charlie Brown. A spokesperson said, “We take our responsibility to provide children with access to nutritious foods very seriously. We have worked hard to produce food hampers at incredibly short notice during these challenging times”. They claimed the hampers contained a variety of ingredients, following DofE specifications. They also claimed, “in the majority of instances, we have received positive feedback.”
The government guidelines for the lunch parcels were listed on the government website. These included, “not rely[ing] on parents having additional ingredients at home”, a guideline clearly not followed, with one parcel posted on the internet containing pasta with no sauce, and bread with no butter.
The first woman to post about this issue was Twitter user, @roadsidemum. She told BBC, “As I unpacked the food parcel in my living room and looked at its contents, it felt very sad and very depressing”. Another TikTok user showed his own parcel, telling viewers of how he “fell to his knees” when he saw the contents and how his daughter went to cry.
There has also been controversy with other suppliers. Suppliers doled out pots of flour with instructions on how to bake bread rolls, leaving many parents confused and humiliated. The suppliers, Impact Food Group, said the pot contained ‘bread mix’ which only needed water, with the intention to create an interactive cooking experience.
More recently, Chartwells provided another statement, saying their parcel was actually intended to last only one school week, and had cost £10.50 for food, packaging and distribution. In the further statement provided on January 13, the firm said they had “fully investigated” the food parcels and apologised for those that did not meet the firm’s high standards, committing to refunding the cost.
Recent ‘reparations’:
The controversy sparked by these food parcels has garnered positive results. Marcus Rashford, and various others, continued to campaign against this until sufficient changes were made.
Since the food parcel controversy, many schools have replaced the food parcels with vouchers. 75%. Impact Food Group, as mentioned above, stated their own voucher scheme will launch on January 18. Chartwells have made strides in repairing the damage done, planning to enhance the lunches to reflect the additional allowance of 3.50 pounds per child provided by the DofE. They also plan to add breakfast to the parcels free of charge from January 25, and to continue to do so while schools are closed.
Although this incident reflected the greed and self-service that many people operate on, and the societal prejudice towards the hungriest families in the UK, we have also been reminded of the good people in the country, such as Marcus Rashford, Jack Monroe, and more, who have consistently spoke out and campaigned for a better system, in the light of this disgraceful situation.
EDITED BY: Claire Wang
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