London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 19, 2025

Leaked food strategy for English schools is paltry, experts say

Leaked food strategy for English schools is paltry, experts say

Campaigners decry failure to extend free meals and budget of £250 per state school to teach healthy eating
The government’s new food strategy offers a “paltry” budget of £250 for each English state school to teach healthy eating, and ignores most of Henry Dimbleby’s plans to improve child nutrition, campaigners say.

They say that with children being fed microwaved and cold meals by schools struggling with the cost of living crisis, a stronger response is needed.

A leaked copy of the strategy, seen by the Guardian, shows limited ambition to tackle child food poverty and obesity, with few new announcements.

The white paper refers to a £5m fund for a “school cooking revolution”, but this amounts to about £250 for each state school to teach pupils how to cook healthy food.

This has disappointed campaigners, who hoped the reviews by Henry Dimbleby in 2020 and last year, which recommended an expansion of free school meals and nutrition standards for food in schools, would be taken on board.

Instead, the government has made a vague commitment to keep eligibility for free school meals under review.

Rob Percival, the head of food policy at the Soil Association, said: “The most disappointing part of the white paper is the failure to extend the entitlement for free school meals.

“We are approaching 1 million children in poverty that don’t get free school meals. There are gaping holes in the nutrition safety net and vulnerable children are falling through.

“At the moment there are mandatory food nutrition standards for both schools and hospitals but there is no monitoring of compliance. We estimate 60% of secondary schools are failing to deliver the nutritional standards that children deserve.

“Caterers are reaching a tipping point where it is really hard to maintain quality. We have heard reports of microwave meals instead of cooked meals to save on energy costs, and serving cold meals instead of hot meals to save heating costs. The government needs to step up to address this vital issue.”

The government’s strategy also puts heavy emphasis on individual responsibility when it comes to obesity, despite acknowledging that 64% of adults and 40% of children are overweight.

Dimbleby recommended taxes on sugar and salt, which would be used to fund healthy food for those in poverty, but there was nothing so ambitious in the leaked version of the strategy, which is expected to be published on Monday.

Rightwing thinktanks celebrated the lack of sugar or salt tax.

Christopher Snowdon, that head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said Dimbleby had been “taken in by activists” and had “come up with mad policies”.

He urged the government: “Stop asking people to do pointless reviews and come up with policies yourself! These are unforced errors and totally avoidable headaches.”

Maxwell Marlow, a research and development officer for the Adam Smith Institute, said: “The government is right to shelve its proposed salt and sugar taxes. With 80% of people stating that they are struggling to make ends meet, purposefully pushing up prices on food and limiting the choices available to families will lead to more hunger and stress at a time of historic crisis.

“Moreover, as we’ve seen with other sugar taxes in the past, they often don’t have the desired effect, with consumers substituting it for something else or simply consuming more. Shrinkflation [in which products decrease in size but the price remains the same] caused by additional levies will lead to greater multipack sales, and on to more sugar being consumed.

“Sugar consumption has continually fallen due to education and societal trends. The last thing the struggling British public need are higher prices and adverse incentives.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
×