The Government’s food tsar has called for the “almost immediate” increase in free school meals as families struggle with the cost-of-living crisis.
Henry Dimbleby, who authored the National Food Strategy, told MPs that expanding provision was “one of the best measures we can do” to address the impacts of the rising cost of living.
Asked by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee how he thought the Government should respond to the rising cost of living, Mr Dimbleby said: “These problems are not spread equally, they are geographically concentrated in certain areas and not always in the areas you think.
“So for example I was at a school in Plymouth the other day which had relatively low free school meals – about 20% free school meals – but it had an enormous number of people who were just about the threshold. So you would look at that and think that’s not an area we need to focus on but actually those people are really going to struggle.
