Parents anger over ‘sad and terrible’ £1.65 school meals leaving kids ‘hungry in class’
- Thornaby Academy in Stockton-on-Tees has been blasted for its lunchtime quality
- Parents call the food ‘shocking’ and say ‘even prisoners are fed better than this’
- A school spokesperson says caterers have apologized for the pathetic food
- Did your child have a ‘sad’ school dinner? Email [email protected]
A school has been criticized for “expensive” and “poor quality” school dinners that leave kids hungry during classes — with an irate parent saying, “Prisoners are fed better.”
A photo of a mushy pizza sold for £1.65 to Thornaby Academy in Stockton-on-Tees has gone viral and has attracted massive response online.
The backlash comes as campaigners fight for higher quality school meals amid a rising rate of childhood obesity.
The embarrassing slice—which appeared to have been bitten—had only one slice of pepperoni resting on a single slice of rectangular cheese.
While in another image, the snack served was harder to identify – with a dish that appeared to show two grapes on some cream, accompanied by a mysterious pink sliver of food.
A mother, not mentioned by name, said, “My son is six and gets school meals. He chooses the cold meal option and all he gets is two slices of bread, some stuffing and a cookie as a meal.
“He’s not a big eater at all, but even he says it’s not filling.”
Another woman said, ‘This is absolutely shocking! Prisoners are fed better than this at the taxpayer’s expense, then parents have to pay for school meals and get to eat this… How is this fair?’
The appalling pizza was sold to children at Thornaby Academy in Stockton-on-Tees for £1.65 – sparking outrage from parents on social media
Some of the food served to Thornaby’s apprentices by caterer Mellors was hard to identify – including this lunch plate
Some parents mentioned how the quality of school meals has declined since they were in school.
One father wrote, “I remember being in elementary school about 35 years ago, and school meals were simple but wonderful.
“Minced meat with mash and veggies, corned beef pie with veggies—all simple but much better than this manure, and all freshly made too.”
Another man said, ‘The dinners used to be the best – we had three options; salad, main meal and snack.
“We also got the option of milk with a warm donut one morning.”
While one man joked: ‘I don’t think this is what Jamie Oliver had in mind.’
Currently, activists across the country are fighting for higher quality school meals for all children.
The ‘Give a Sausage’ campaign, supported by well-known culinary stars from Tom Kerridge to Prue Leith, aims to ensure that all children have access to quality school meals.
An academy spokesperson said it takes school catering standards ‘seriously’ and will investigate the lunchtime fiasco
They want to do this by training school kitchen teams and reducing the supply of processed foods.
This is because 60 percent of secondary schools fail to meet the school food standard set by the government in May, with one in three overweight or obese children dropping out of school.
A Thornaby Academy spokesperson said: ‘The academy is disappointed about a potential issue regarding its new catering supplier Mellors as the matter has not been discussed directly with the school.
“The academy has a clear policy about the use of cell phones by students during the day that are not allowed.
Thornaby Academy takes school catering standards and food school compliance seriously and will investigate the matter in conjunction with the caterers. Mellors has already apologized unconditionally, though.’
The cost of living increases the price of a packed lunch by 70 percent
Pictured: New data shows the cost of packed lunches for children has risen by 70 percent
The cost of packed lunches for children has risen 70 percent in 18 months as the cost of living crisis continues to punish hard-hit families.
Everyday products used to make children’s lunches, such as bread, ham, cheese, tomatoes, biscuits, apples, yogurt and crisps, have risen in price over the past year.
According to research by Starling Bank for the Sun, tomatoes are 146 percent more expensive, while cheese is up 132 percent.
Yogurt has almost doubled in price, while the price of bananas has risen from an average of 73p to an average of 97p as well.
The price hikes mean the ingredients, popular for making packed lunches for kids, now cost a family £11.87 to buy for a week’s worth of food – a sharp increase from the £6.99 it cost in April 2021 , the newspaper reports.
It comes after data from research firm Kantar revealed an annual increase of £571 in the average British household grocery bill, or £10.98 per week, compared to 12 months ago.