Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
recent remarks by a head teacher in Southampton criticising the
quality of school meals for children.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Education () (Con)
My Lords, I am aware of the recent remarks from a Southampton
head teacher. We cannot comment on individual catering
arrangements, as arrangements with particular suppliers are made
at a local level. Governors and trustees are responsible for
ensuring compliance with the school food standards. We encourage
local authorities and schools to work with their caterers to
address any quality issues when they arise, to ensure that
children receive nutritious meals in school.
(Lab)
I am grateful to the Minister for her Answer. I am grateful too
to Mr Ashley for raising this issue, and to the Times and the BBC
for picking up on it last week. This is a topic of great concern
to all of us. One in three children now leaving primary school is
overweight or obese. This, in part, links back not only to what
they are eating at home but to an area where the Government have
some influence and control, which is school meals. It was 2014
when the regulations were last reviewed; it is time they were
looked at again. Much has changed since then. Children are eating
far too much sugar these days. We need to reduce it; we need to
look after their health and stop abusing them in this way. Will
the Government act on that?
(Con)
The Government believe that the school food standards are very
clear. Schools must ensure that they provide children with
healthy food and drink options, that they get sufficient energy
and nutrition across the school day, and they clearly restrict
foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar.
The (Con)
My Lords, in 1825 the great politician Jean Brillat-Savarin
coined the phrase “You are what you eat”. It is concerning that,
according to research, ultra-processed food makes up 64% of the
average UK school lunch. What is the Government’s strategy to
both teach and empower children to make the right food
choices?
(Con)
Cooking and nutrition are firmly within the national curriculum:
in design and technology they are compulsory between key stages 1
and 3, they aim to teach children how to cook and the principles
of healthy eating and nutrition. It is also picked up in the
science curriculum; indeed, through the Oak National Academy, we
funded a module on cooking and nutrition that will equip children
leaving school to be able to cook at least six predominantly
savoury recipes that will support a healthy diet.
(LD)
My Lords, is not the problem that the tendering process for
school meals is based on cost and not quality? Of course, there
is another side to school meals, and that is the famous packed
lunch. The experience of teachers and head teachers of packed
lunches is that they are mainly filled with bags of crisps,
chocolate biscuits, fruit drinks et cetera—not necessarily fruit
drinks but canned drinks. Has the Minister any idea how we can
ensure that packed lunches as well become a healthy nutritional
meal?
(Con)
The noble Lord touches on issues relating to how parents bring up
their children, which is obviously delicate territory for the
Government to pronounce too firmly on. Our messaging around the
risks of obesity and on healthy lifestyles more broadly is
obviously picked up by parents. Our family hubs also look at
things such as nutrition. On the first part of his remarks, I
should say that the department centrally offers a service called
Get Help Buying for Schools that supports schools to negotiate
high-quality and affordable catering arrangements.
(Con)
I am very pleased to be a member of the committee sitting in this
House at the moment looking at ultra-processed foods and obesity.
From its evidence sessions that are in the public domain already,
the diets of children in school meals, packed lunches and the
food that they eat at home should worry everyone in this House.
Given what my noble friend has replied today, can I gently
suggest that her civil servants please follow the evidence being
taken by the House?
(Con)
I should clarify that I did not in any way want to diminish the
importance of addressing ultra-processed foods, but the school
food standards already restrict foods that are described as
low-quality reformed or reconstituted foods, which include
ultra-processed foods.
(CB)
My Lords, I declare an interest as someone who has eaten more
school meals than I care to mention, most of them very good, and
as someone who rather unwillingly teaches food at school at the
moment, where we do a lot about nutrition. However, the research
from Northumbria University has found that a quarter-pint of milk
a day has an enormously beneficial effect on children’s
confidence and concentration and against obesity. What plans do
the Government have to increase the free school milk
programme?
(Con)
We know that milk is, as the noble Lord says, excellent for
children’s growth and development. As part of the school food
standards, lower-fat milk or lactose-reduced milk must be made
available for children who want it to drink at least once a day
during school hours, and it must be provided free of charge to
all pupils eligible for free school meals. Schools can offer milk
as many times as they wish, but it must be free to infants and
benefit-based free school meal pupils when offered as part of a
school meal.
(Lab)
My Lords, like my noble friend Lord Brooke and the noble
Baroness, , I am a member of the Food,
Diet and Obesity Committee. There are many concerning issues, one
being the influence of the food industry. Can the Minister have
urgent discussions with the food industry so that it fully
understands the impact of high-processed foods and the need for
urgent reformulation, to reduce salt and sugar in those foods and
to improve the health and well-being of all our young people?
(Con)
I am more than happy to take that back to the department, for
Ministers who are directly responsible for this area to talk to
the food industry. The noble Baroness will be aware that there
has been some success in reducing sugar in breakfast cereals,
yoghurts, fromage frais and soft drinks. However, I share her
concerns.
(Con)
Can my noble friend tell us what effect exercise has on the
health of school- children?
(Con)
As my noble friend hints, exercise has a very positive impact on
physical health and, crucially, on mental health.
(Lab)
My Lords, anyone who saw the pictures in the newspaper article to
which the Question refers will be fairly appalled at the quality
of the food offered to the children. The head teacher concerned
asked how hard it was to bake a potato. Is the real problem that
children do not learn how to cook any more and therefore do not
see jobs in institutional catering as a viable career? What
action is the DfE taking to ensure that the skills exist to meet
government guidelines that state that school food should be
nutritious, look good and taste delicious?
(Con)
I am not sure whether I have to declare my interest as the mother
of a chef. I think careers in hospitality are great, but I might
be slightly biased. I have already responded on where food and
healthy eating fit within the curriculum. We take this very
seriously. The specific case that was alluded to in the media
related to a PFI contract. Obviously, that gives greater
constraints on the ability of a school to negotiate with, or
potentially even change, suppliers.
The (CB)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that the best source of food
for schools is locally sourced, sustainably grown produce from
identifiable farms that have an educational relationship with the
school through which they teach children how and where their food
is made? If so, will she encourage local procurement of school
food?
(Con)
I am more than happy to encourage that. Just to take it one stage
further, I encourage schools that have the space to follow the
example of some schools that I have visited that have their own
allotments and grow some of their own food. Some of them keep
chickens, for example, and eat their own eggs for breakfast. That
is also a great approach
