The excitement of the children was palpable on the first day of the hot school meals program at a rural primary school in Galway. Teachers hand out hot lunches, freshly delivered from caterers in insulated boxes, in cardboard containers with clear lids. Parents select meals on the supplier’s website. Chicken curry is today’s most popular choice, along with mac and cheese, barbecue chicken, and soup. One child eats plain pasta. Children eat food quickly. Almost all containers are emptied, reviews are positive. “I don’t like that, I Love That’s it,” says one boy. “10 stars.” “It’s delicious,” said another person.
Free school meals are an effective opportunity to address food poverty and improve children’s health. School meals can improve school attendance, behavior, and educational outcomes. By making them universal, we prevent prejudice and encourage adoption. This is a progressive government policy and seems to be widely welcomed in schools. Parents who often feel intimidated by the daily drudgery of preparing lunch boxes will be grateful to know that they have one less job to do, one less expense for him, and they can feed their children.
In Ireland, an estimated one in five children is overweight or obese. Few people eat the recommended 5 to 7 portions of fruits and vegetables each day and consume too much sugar and ultra-processed foods.
In April, 900 new primary schools joined the Ministry of Social Protection’s hot school meals scheme, bringing the number of participating schools to around 1,400. Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys is set to offer free hot school meals to all primary school children by next year, significantly ahead of her original 2030 target. The project is thought to have cost €63 million last year. Implementing this in all schools is expected to cost around €300 million a year. The agency allocates €3.20 per meal but takes a hands-off approach to how it is spent. Schools are provided with funding and carry out the bidding process themselves.
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The rapid rollout of free hot school meals is impressive. This is for a variety of co-benefits, including reducing inequalities, improving children’s health, contributing to education and food initiatives, creating guaranteed markets for farmers, and at least not causing harm to people. This could be a historic opportunity to leverage public funds. our environment. But instead of trying to provide our children with adequate nutrition, are we simply choosing to feed all our children and letting the unregulated market provide the solution? ?
In the midst of the climate and biodiversity crisis, the government is fully funding and dispensing with single-use products, even as the Circular Economy Act 2022 promises to move us towards “reusable alternatives”. Here is a program that provides food to children every day in packaging. The school I visited asked seven companies for proposals. None offered a reuse solution. Through An Taisce’s Green Schools program, generations of children have learned about the environment and reducing waste. The children now bring home dirty cardboard boxes, lids, and cutlery every day or throw them away at school. If replicated across the country and rolled out to all 550,000 elementary school students for 183 school days a year, it would add 100 million single-use containers to the waste pile each year. Why can’t the government survive the environment with all its new policies and programs?
What I discovered was not very pretty. A detailed ingredient list and eye-watering use of additives and processing aids.This is industrial food
School feeding programs can measurably improve children’s nutrition. In Ireland, an estimated one in five children is overweight or obese. Few people eat the recommended five to seven servings of fruits and vegetables each day, and we consume too much sugar and ultra-processed foods. However, despite the Nutritional Standards for Hot School Meals recommending two servings of fruits, vegetables, or salads at every meal, many hot school meals served contain very little vegetables. Not yet. In search of a more plant-based option for my son from his school lunch provider, I turned to vegetarian lasagna. It’s based on soybean mince rather than actual vegetables (although it does have some tomato sauce and onions in it). I went down the rabbit hole of dietary specifications and what I found there wasn’t pretty. A detailed ingredient list and surprising use of additives and processing aids. This is industrial food.
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The truth is that 3.20 euros per meal doesn’t leave much for quality ingredients, when you take into account the costs of production, delivery, planning and control, as well as supplier profits. When looking at the meals from our school providers, it quickly became clear that very little goes back to Irish farms. A popular chicken curry made with Chinese chicken. A roast chicken and mash dinner using chicken from Europe, South America, and Thailand. Pasta Bolognese, Lasagna, and Chili Con Carne are all made from the same “pasta meat sauce” and are listed as “Ireland” of origin, but the origin of the beef itself is unknown. This definitely won’t help vegetable producers who are in dire straits, as there are very few vegetables. This does not necessarily reflect provision from all school food providers, but who is monitoring this?
If public money is to be spent on food, shouldn’t the government follow its own green public procurement guidelines to support Irish farmers and try to reduce damage to the environment? Shouldn’t we at least try to feed our children well?
This program risks perpetuating existing problems and incorporating industrial foods into schools. Why set the bar so low? Our children deserve better.
Ruth Hegarty is a food policy and sustainable food systems consultant and lecturer in food policy at UCC.
