The Menu Partners have today announced a partnership with School Food Matters, providing food for children in the Southwark and Lambeth areas of London.

School Food Matters is a charity solely funded by generous individuals, the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity and UNICEF UK.

The situation concerning child food poverty in the UK is dire, and the following facts highlight the shortcomings which many faces:

• Before COVID-19, 4.2 million children were living in poverty in the UK – that’s almost one-third of children in the UK.
• Over 2 million children experienced food insecurity between March and August 2020.
• Two in five children in the UK living under the poverty line (1.3 million) are not eligible for Free School Meals.

The issue of child poverty in the UK has been present for many years but the COVID-19 pandemic has served to exacerbate the problem and made the country aware of the challenges facing food insecure households. A report conducted by the Food Foundation concluded that: “food insecurity carries a huge human cost which children are likely to bear for the rest of their lives, affecting their relationships, attainment, mental and physical health.”

School Food Matters, endeavour to teach children about food and ultimately enhance their ability to access healthy food during their time at school.

Their response has come as a result of the suffering experienced by many during the COVID-19 pandemic and their mission has been supported by generous individuals as well as Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity and UNICEF UK. The generous funding means that School Food Matters will be supplying 91,000 breakfasts every fortnight throughout the third national lockdown to 109 primary and secondary schools currently closed in Southwark and Lambeth.

The boxes The Menu Partners supply to the charity are at cost and include just a small fee for packaging and distribution – the box contains; brown rice, a loaf of brown bread, rolled oats, semi-skimmed milk, Heinz baked beans, desiccated coconut, Weetabix, apples, bananas and satsumas – each box is designed to provide 10 breakfast servings.

Jason Tanner of The Menu Partners added, ‘Being a parent myself, the thought of children up and down the country not having access to enough food to support their growth, both mentally and physically, has struck a chord with me. At The Menu Partners, we believe everyone should have the right to healthy, fresh produce, no matter what and we are delighted to support School Food Matters in this campaign.’