{"id":6990,"date":"2017-06-30T06:42:15","date_gmt":"2017-06-30T06:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/?p=6990"},"modified":"2017-06-30T06:42:15","modified_gmt":"2017-06-30T06:42:15","slug":"exploring-whats-free-about-uifsm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/2017\/06\/30\/exploring-whats-free-about-uifsm\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring what's free about UIFSM"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was pleased to see that the daft pledge to means-test payments for infant school meals hasn't made it into the Queen's Speech. \u00a0Unsurprisingly, this was an unpersuasive proposition on the nation's doorsteps. \u00a0Voters recognised\u00a0sweets being snatched away\u00a0when they saw\u00a0it.<\/p>\n

The Soil Association's excellent Food for Life [FFL] programme (with which I am associated in a vanishingly\u00a0minor way) wrote this<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Following the Queen\u2019s Speech this morning (Wednesday 21 June 2017), we are delighted to hear that the pledge to discontinue Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) was not included in the announcement. \u00a0The removal of UIFSM quickly became the most unpopular pledge in the Conservative manifesto with parents, head teachers, and caterers all expressing their disappointment and disapproval,\u00a0with our survey finding 80% of schools are \u2018very concerned\u2019 about the potential withdrawal. \u00a0Joanna Lewis, Strategy & Policy Director of the Soil Association, commented:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe omission\u00a0of \u00a0the pledge\u00a0to discontinue UIFSM \u00a0from the Queens Speech is great news as we need Universal Infant Free School Meals now more than ever. An investment in school meals are an investment in child health \u2013 critical when one in five children is obese by the time they finish primary school. It is also an investment in educational attainment, a financially viable catering service, and a culture of healthy eating. \u00a0The Government must now commit to a rigorous long term evaluation of the health, educational, and social benefits resulting from the policy. \u00a0It must ensure that schools and caterers are supported to deliver high quality, healthy and sustainable meals. \u00a0All children deserve to be raised in an environment in which it is normal, easy and enjoyable to eat well - Universal Infant Free School Meals are an important step towards creating such an environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Together, along with the great campaign led by the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation and Leon, we have ensured the voices of schools were heard by Government. They have listened to our dismay at the potential discontinuation of the policy, which would have resulted in job losses, growing inequalities, and a return to the dark days of junk-filled packed lunches and social stigma attached to free school meals for the few.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And here<\/a> are the children of Charlton Manor school and Washingborough Academy, celebrating.<\/p>\n

I think that children should eat\u00a0good food. \u00a0I also think that it would be good were parents and carers to take responsibility for providing this, but I understand why this isn't always possible. \u00a0Thus, for young children, there's a convincing\u00a0argument for the school providing this through tax-payer funding, especially when quality can be assured through the admirable catering mark and FFL schemes. \u00a0This might be an argument for older children to get this as well, but that's for another day.<\/p>\n

What I object to in all this is the use of the word \"free\". \u00a0None of this is free, just like, for example, the NHS is not free. \u00a0Somebody always pays; in fact, everybody pays something or other. \u00a0The NHS mantra is \"free at the point of delivery\" which at least makes the point (somewhat obliquely, mind you) that there are costs to be paid by someone, somewhen. \u00a0I'm writing all this because I wonder\u00a0what children are being taught. \u00a0Are they being helped to\u00a0understand that the costs haven't vanished,\u00a0but, rather, have been socialised\u00a0for good reasons, and so are being borne by everyone (including, of course, one way or another, by their parents and carers). \u00a0I hope so. \u00a0It's never too soon to learn some economics, and there are dangers in not doing so as you risk being in thrall to silver-tongued demagogues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was pleased to see that the daft pledge to means-test payments for infant school meals hasn't made it into the Queen's Speech. \u00a0Unsurprisingly, this was an unpersuasive proposition on the nation's doorsteps. \u00a0Voters recognised\u00a0sweets being snatched away\u00a0when they saw\u00a0it....<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment","category-news-and-updates"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6990\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}