Just over a year ago when England entered its first lockdown, School Food Matters (SFM) witnessed schools stoically navigate the confusing maze of food provision during their closures. Our mission is to teach children about food and improve children’s access to healthy, sustainable food during their time at school. This has never felt more important than in the last year.
Whilst we are not a food distribution charity at our core, there was no time like the first lockdown (and the second and third…) to ensure healthy food reached those children who needed it. In partnership with Chefs in Schools and funded by the Impact on Urban Health, a part of Guys and St Thomas Charity (GSTC), we sharpened our food coordination skills and planned a widescale distribution of just over a million healthy breakfasts boxes and 11,624 lunch hampers. Distributed through a network of dedicated schools, these boxes were not only for children on free school meals but any child facing food insecurity in Lambeth & Southwark. We were also able to support families during school holidays in partnership with Southwark Food Action Alliance, thanks to the ‘Food Power for Generation Covid’ grant, as well as the incredible outpouring of donations from the public.
Y6 Lambeth student drawing of a pear from their breakfast box. Winner of our Summer ‘What is your favourite breakfast?’ Drawing competition!
Each breakfast box contained an assortment of healthy food items providing two-weeks’ worth of nutritious breakfasts. From oats and Weetabix to rice, eggs and fruits including desiccated coconut, the boxes held the potential for a ‘variety of breakfasts that are always so fresh’ (Lambeth teacher). Parents shared how the boxes provided more than just food: ‘Collecting these boxes has provided routine during lockdown.’ Strikingly, for many it meant ‘there is no longer a stigma attached to asking for help’ (Southwark parents). Going beyond basic needs, teachers also shared how these breakfast boxes reduced isolation during lockdown with breakfast box collections ‘allowing us to check in with them’ (Lambeth Assistant Headteacher) and ‘gauge if families need additional support (Lambeth teacher).
With our fabulous partner, Chefs in Schools, 11,624 lunch hampers filled with one weeks’ worth of delicious lunches were also distributed to vulnerable families across Lambeth and Southwark. These healthy hampers were a mixture of items such as pasta and vegetables, combined with ‘amazing quality cooked food’ (Southwark parent) from restaurant partners Mission Kitchen and Hawksmoor.
Volunteer Chef sorting healthy lunches, Aug 20
Each school distributed their breakfast and lunch hampers with their own flair. Some schools even delivered direct to families to ensure connections were not lost: ‘The joy of delivering bumper packs of breakfast and lunches to their doors is matched by their joy in receiving your kind donations’ (Southwark Headteacher).
With just over a million breakfast boxes and 11, 624 lunch hampers now delivered, these figures are testament to the incredible dedication of schools and our partners. These numbers are also a stark reflection of the precarious and scary reality many families find themselves in: ‘Our boxes go home to families that are on no recourse to public funds, furloughed and not eligible for additional benefits to make up for the financial loss’ (Lambeth teacher). ‘These boxes are a lifeline.Without them, our children would go without fresh or enough food each day’ (Lambeth parent). SFM strongly supports the recommendations of the National Food Strategy Part One, specifically to expand entitlement to free school meals, and has asked the Government to consider this as part of a review of school food policy.
There was a pineapple in the breakfast bag! Southwark Primary School, Winter 2020.
We are also fired up by schools’ increased commitment to provide healthy food options for their students as we restart our Healthy Zones project. In partnership with Impact on Urban Health, a part of GSTC, this project aims to tackle childhood obesity. By providing a menu of support to schools, we will work with each school to better develop breakfast clubs, after school clubs and the implementation of school food policies that put children’s health first.
The breakfast boxes and lunch hampers have already encouraged families to ‘try new foods and new recipes that we might not usually’ (Lambeth parent). Children’s health is now higher on the agenda, and we are really excited to progress these invaluable conversations and maintain momentum through the summer term and beyond!
Shoutout to Hope, Project Officer at School Food Matters for taking the time to write this blog.