Headteachers will be allowed to offer discounts on the price of school meals in an attempt to ensure more children benefit from a nutritious lunch in the middle of the day, under proposals to be debated by MPs this month.
Ministers hope to coax more children into school canteens by introducing flexible pricing. The aim is to improve the standard of food consumed from an early age. The move, part of the Government's Education Bill, will target groups including children in their first months at school; older pupils who have fallen into poor eating habits; and poorer families whose incomes put them just above the threshold that would make them eligible for free school meals.
The proposal comes amid growing concern over insufficient take-up of school meals, the standard of food consumed by thousands of British schoolchildren and the impact that has on their capacity to learn. The Independent on Sunday revealed earlier this year that rising costs were putting many hard-pressed families off school meals, with the average price rising by 10 per cent in a year.
The Bill will return to the House of Commons as new research reveals that lower prices would make families more likely to switch to healthy school meals. A survey by the School Food Trust (SFT) found that almost six out of 10 parents whose children didn't already have school meals said they would be prepared to try them this term if they were on offer at a reduced price
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