LACA joins forces with ITV to highlight increasing cost of school meals
Chris Choi, consumer editor at ITV, headed to Town Field Primary in Doncaster to investigate the ‘biting costs for caterers’. The video highlights how the school has had to adapt to the rising costs by reducing the choice children have on the menu.
Helen Fifoot, the head of catering operations for Doncaster City Council, told ITV News: “This is now moving towards a crisis, household budgets are so challenged. It is so important children get a hot meal at lunchtime. We’ve had to look at menus, we’ve had to reduce choice to look at costs.”
According to the LACA survey 98% of members are still experiencing food shortages and substitutions from their supply chain. Nearly half (46%) of members said this has got worse since September.
LACA says too many children are falling through the cracks as they cannot access a paid-for school meal but do not meet the threshold entitling them to Free School Meals. LACA are calling for Free School Meal entitlement to be extended to all children whose parents are entitled to Universal Credit.