School caterers are taking ingredients off the menu because of the rising cost of food, with beef scrapped in some dining halls - reports the BBC. Others have switched suppliers to use cheap foreign imports or change the fruit and vegetables they are serving to children.
Laca, the school caterers' association for England and Wales, said more than 60 of the catering companies it asked had either switched from British meat to meat from abroad, or were considering doing so soon. Caterers reported cost increases of between 20 to 30% for many products.
Laca said one catering company reported the cost of 10kg of prepared potatoes rising from £10.46 to £15.50, and boxes of 60 eggs going up from £9.79 to £13.39. The cost of minced beef, used to make lasagne or burgers, rose by 11% overnight in recent days, it said.
Laira Green Primary School in Plymouth, one of 70 schools supplied by the same catering company, has switched from locally sourced Cornish beef to cheap gammon, and swaps out chicken for less expensive turkey.
In England, children from reception to Year 2 are entitled to a free school meal, but beyond that point the policy is means-tested.
Most children in Reception year in Wales will begin to receive free school meals from September, the Welsh Government has announced.
The funding per pupil for universal infant free school meals in England will increase, the Government has announced.
The move was announced as supermarkets and sports organisations said they would support poorer pupils across the country this summer in partnership with the Government’s Holiday Activities and Food programme.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said there would be an £18 million rise in infant free school meals funding.
He said the move was because “we know that more can be done in the face of rising costs”.
