Parents are facing a “cost of eating crisis” with the price of school lunches rocketing by more than a third in some areas of the country.
Families with two children can be hit with a bill for more than £1,000 a year for school lunches - almost £250 more than in 2019, according to research by the Lib Dems.
And Government funding for free school meals has also failed to keep up with the rising cost of food meaning schools are forced to make up the difference from teaching budgets.
Hundreds of schools have seen prices rise to £2.80 - well above the £2.41 given for free infant meals.
Ministers only raised the funding rate for infant free school meals by 7p per meal this academic year, a rise of less than half the rate of inflation at the time.
Schools must find an extra £74 per pupil per year in Hampshire, £57 in West Sussex and £36 in East Sussex, to make up the shortfall, the Lib Dems said.
The party’s analysis found pupils in 15 secondary schools in East Sussex are charged £2.74 for a main course, up 30.48% since September 2019.
In an open letter to parents, the area’s County Council said its contract with caterers Chartwells required it to increase prices in line with inflation.
Meanwhile more than 400 schools in Hampshire saw prices jump from £2.40 in September 2019 to £2.80 in January 2023 - a 17% increase.
The County Council blamed “significant increased costs including those resulting from rising food prices” for the price hikes.
In West Sussex, Chartwells increased its prices for junior schools to £2.71, up 15.3% since 2019, while Surrey saw prices for 226 primary schools up more than 10%.
The Lib Dems is calling on the Government to extend free school meals to all children in households receiving Universal Credit.
The Mirror is campaigning with the National Education Union to offer free school meals to all children in primary schools.
But the Tories have repeatedly rebuffed calls to widen the scheme from doctors, teachers and campaigners, including top chefs Jamie Oliver and Tom Kerridge, and even ex-Tory chancellor George Osborne.
Scotland and Wales have already agreed to extend free school meals to primary children - but England has lagged behind.
An estimated 800,000 children living in poverty miss out due to strict eligibility rules.
Lib Dem education spokeswoman Munira Wilson said: “By mismanaging the economy, the Conservatives have created a cost-of-eating crisis in our schools. Thousands of children in hard-working families come home hungry because they don’t qualify for a free lunch and can’t afford to buy one.
“These price hikes are a double blow for parents, who are forking out hundreds of pounds more a year. Yet they’d be paying even more if schools weren’t sacrificing their teaching budgets to keep costs down. Under the Tories, schools choose between teaching children and feeding them."
A Department for Education spokeswoman said: “The number of children receiving a free meal at school has increased by more than two million since 2010, thanks to the introduction of universal infant free school meals and the generous protections put in place as benefit recipients move across to universal credit.
“Over a third of pupils in England now receive free school meals in education settings, compared with one in six in 2010, and we have made a further investment in the National School Breakfast Programme to extend the programme for another year, backed by up to £30 million.”
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