Let’s End the School Food Postcode Lottery

Give Free School Meals to All Who Need Them

Right now, 900,000 young people living in poverty in England still can’t access free school meals. That’s outrageous — so let’s fix it. We’ve been campaigning for over a year to extend free school meals to the kids who need it most. If you agree, make your voice heard and contact the Secretary of State for Education.

Ask the Secretary of State for Education to widen access to free school meals now!

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Dear Secretary of StateI am a supporter of Bite Back 2030 — a youth-led movement working to fix the food system. They are running a campaign calling on the Government to extend free school meals to all children living in poverty — and I think you need to hear what they have to say. Will you meet with the young campaigners from Bite Back?An investment in free school meals is an investment in the futures of children, and an investment in the future of our economy. Free school meals boost physical and mental health, lead to improvements in education attainment and potential earnings. While all primary school children in London can now benefit from free school meals, many secondary school children across the country and primary school children outside of London are still missing out, widening the inequality gap that now exists across the country.Bite Back are not alone — recent polling by <a href="https://www.publicfirst.co.uk/new-polling-for-the-school-food-review-working-grup.html">Public First</a> found 71% of people think the current eligibility threshold is too low, or shouldn’t exist at all. Expanding free school meals is overwhelmingly seen as a good investment in children’s futures with 68% of people supporting extending free school meals immediately to all children receiving universal credit, followed by extending it to all children in the future.I know you care about child health and educational attainment, and ensuring all young people have the opportunity to thrive, whatever their background. Extending free school meals to all children living in poverty is a brilliant way to do just that. Given your role as Secretary of State for Education, I hope you will agree to meet with the young campaigners at Bite Back to learn more about their experiences and why this is such an important campaign.Thank you,

I'd like to receive email updates from Bite Back 2030 on my impact, and on other ways to help all young people access healthy, nutritious food.

Demand Better School Food for Everyone

Did you know that, by law, schools must guarantee every kid in the UK access to nutritious food in school? It’s called the School Food Standards. Sounds great, right?

Unfortunately, when we spoke to 13-18 year olds across the country in 2021, they revealed a harsh truth. School food is a postcode lottery, and far too many schools still don’t meet these standards. So Bite Back sprung into action. We spoke to MPs and Government decision-makers, and our campaigning paid off: the Government launched a pilot to monitor and actually enforce the standards.

But our work’s not done. School food is still not up to scratch in too many canteens, and we need to keep making noise to change this. We’re collecting photographic evidence of school food all around the country to help prove to those in power that change is needed.

You can help! Send us a photo of your school food, and learn more about your legal right to good food so you can speak up in your canteen.

Let’s End the School Food Postcode Lottery

Give Free School Meals to All Who Need Them

Ask the Secretary of State for Education to widen access to free school meals now!

Demand Better School Food for Everyone

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