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School dinners could become smaller or use ‘cheaper ingredients’ amid cost of living crisis
The government’s funding for free school dinners hasn’t aligned with the rise in inflation
School caterers could be forced to serve smaller portions or use cheaper ingredients due to rising prices, a major food wholesaler has warned.
According to Andrew Selley, the boss of Bidfood, school caterers are having to make ‘difficult decisions’ as soaring inflation hikes the cost of food.
Selley said ‘all of the inputs into the food supply chain’ had increased over the past nine months, putting pressure on Bidfoods, which caters to schools, hospitals and NHS trusts across the UK.
He told BBC News: “We are seeing things like sunflower oil is double the price it was a year ago, which has pushed into other oils like vegetable oil, rapeseed oil, even palm oil.
“Bakery items are up 20-30%.”
He then called upon the government to ensure funding for free school meals will align with rising prices, saying they are ‘vital’ for children’s ‘education and attainment’.
He explained: “Over the last ten years, the amount of money the government provides for free school meals has only gone up by 1.7%, which obviously was well behind inflation even before this last twelve months.
“We can see that is going to leave some difficult decisions for school caterers [in the months ahead].
“Either they are going to potentially serve smaller portions or cheaper ingredients which isn’t going to be good for the children.”
Gorton Primary School
This comes as research finds nearly one in ten parents are ‘very likely’ to use a food bank to feed their children over the next three months.
The research, courtesy of The Trussell Trust and Deliveroo, says that as many as 1.3 million parents are expecting to have to visit a food bank as families struggle to cope with rising costs of living, with 88% of those surveyed admitting their monthly food bill has increased in the past three months.
The study also found that a third of parents skipped at least one meal to keep up with other costs, while 20% said they had been unable to cook hot food at least once in the past three months because of the cost of using an oven.
And of those who said their household bills had gone up, 58% said they had cut back on heating as a result.
Read more about The Trussell Trust and Deliveroo’s partnership here.