An independent watchdog for children’s food should be set up to help tackle a growing crisis, a major new report has concluded.
In a damning indictment on the state of the nation, the Children’s Future Food Inquiry (CFFF) claimed as many as a third of children are living in poverty in the UK, their families unable to afford the government’s recommended diet. Some 19 per cent of British children also live in food insecure households – meaning there are times when they cannot afford to buy enough food, or the full variety needed for a healthy diet – according to UNICEF.
The report, which was compiled by the Food Foundation and presented in Westminster by ambassador Dame Emma Thompson, argues that an independent watchdog for children’s food must immediately be established to provide leadership, and that children themselves should be part of the group. The watchdog could be housed by the Food Standards Agency in all four nations, with an independent board reporting to parliaments and informing the children’s commissioners in all four nations.
The report warns of a “postcode lottery with devastating, life-long consequences,” whereby children living in poverty are eligible for vastly different levels of food provision and services depending on where they live. Minimum standards are therefore urgently required, it said.
The inquiry’s young food ambassadors have developed a #Right2Food charter which they believe could loosen the grip of food poverty on children, with the establishment of the watchdog forming its central proposal.
Other key elements include extending the entitlement of free school meals to the 23 per cent of children not entitled to them who are missing lunch due to lack of money; ensuring the funding provided for free school meals is actually sufficient to buy a healthy lunch; and ensuring that more families benefit from the fruit and vegetable vouchers provided through Healthy Start.
Dame Emma said: “In face of the government’s refusal to help, the Children’s Future Food Inquiry has brought together hundreds of young people to hear about the lived experience of food poverty, and it’s time we listened to what they say. It’s the younger generation who will deliver the change that’s so urgently needed: we must act now to ensure every child in the UK has the right to food.”
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