London:
Children attending English schools are suffering from food shortages, including hiding in playgrounds because they can't afford lunch, according to the Guardian, the next report reveals.
The report will be released next month from Chefs in Schools, a charity focused on healthy eating and training chefs to work in school kitchens.
A school in south-east London reported that children were "pretending to eat from an empty lunch box" because they didn't want their friends to know there was no food at home, according to the charity.
At the heart of this food poverty crisis in schools are two issues.
The first is declining school budgets due to rising energy costs, and the second is the right to free school meals.
Every school child in England is entitled to free school meals from enrollment until her second year, but after that only children whose parents earn less than her £7,400 a year are eligible. Child Poverty Action Group said that means 800,000 children in poverty are not entitled to these free school meals.
Naomi Duncan, Managing Her Director of Chefs in Schools, said:
"I hear that hungry children eat gummies at school."
"Children come in who haven't eaten since lunch the day before. The government has to do something," she added.
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Duncan urged all children in families on welfare known as Universal Credit to be entitled to free school meals.This position was supported by the teachers' union. she added:
"For our chefs, this is really heartbreaking. They actively go outside to find and feed children hiding in the playground thinking they can't get food. ”
Paul Gosling, president of the National Principals Guild, said:
“The government knows schools can step in and help when children are hungry and cold in the morning. But it is not right to be left without additional support.”
The UK is the sixth largest economy in the world by nominal GDP.