Iceland boss urges Rishi Sunak to extend free school meals as retailer backs Feed the Future campaign

Feed the Future: ‘Levelling up starts with the youngest,’ head of supermarket chain says

Managing Director of Iceland, Richard Walker (David Parry/PA) (PA Wire)

The head of supermarket chain Iceland has called on Rishi Sunak to extend free school meals to vulnerable children as a “critical priority”.

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The retailer is backing our Feed the Future campaign, in partnership with the Food Foundation and a coalition of organisations, calling on the prime minister to extend free school meals to the 800,000 children in England who live in households on universal credit – but are ineligible because their household income, excluding benefits, is over £7,400 a year.

Richard Walker told BBC Radio 4’sToday programme that “levelling up starts with the youngest.”

He said: “If our country is to success long-term, we need to make sure we have a healthy, engaged, focused, happy school population who have decent prospects and that has to include the most vulnerable kids.”

Walker, who currently sits on the prime minister’s business council, said he would like to see free school meals extended as a priority for the government.

“Investing in the ability for young kids to concentrate and learn is paramount so they are not falling asleep because they’re hungry in school,” he added.

Seventy-two per cent of the public in England back the expansion of free school meals to all children on universal credit, according to a poll by You Gov.

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This risibly low threshold applies irrespective of the number of children in the family and is causing real hardship among families struggling with the cost of living crisis.

The 800,000 children who miss out on free school meals amounts to 30 per cent of all school-aged children living in poverty. Currently, 1.9 million children in England are entitled to free school meals (costing the government £2.47 per meal), including all pupils from reception to Year 2, but beyond that the restrictive threshold applies.

Other organisations who have signed up to the Feed the Future campaign include School Food Matters, Chefs in Schools, Bite Back 2030, Sustain, Child Poverty Action Group, Impact on Urban Health, National Education Union and Jamie Oliver Ltd.

Adults who had free school meals as a child have also shared how that underpins where they are today, as part of our social media spinoff #FreeMadeMe.