Youth ambassadors give evidence to the Child Poverty Taskforce

Eight of our young Food Ambassadors have given evidence to the government's newly created Child Poverty Taskforce.

The Food Foundation believes citizen's voices are critical in discussions relating to their lives so we were delighted they were invited to contribute to the creation of a cross-government strategy set to be published in spring 2025.

The ambassadors took part in a focus group School Food and Child Food Insecurity and spoke mostly about food insecurity and the impact this has on educational attainment, mental and physical health, and their futures.

They spoke openly and honestly about their experiences, which were summed up by Food Ambassador, Keira,16 who said:

"For me food insecurity is feeling more or less embarrassed because you can't afford the same food, and you can't eat the same food as other people around you.”

Linking to Rushda’s words, many of the ambassadors drew on the experiences at school, and impact the food insecurity has on students.

Food Ambassador Callum, 15 from Wales, said: "You've got students who are not concentrating in lessons or who are messing about because they can't concentrate.

"Because if you have hunger pangs, you are physically feeling that hunger, how are you expected to take in the information and respond to the lesson that you're in?

"It's very difficult and a lot of students experiencing food insecurity have a plethora of physical, but also mental health and well-being problems as result of it."

As a consequence of the unaffordability of food, a number of young ambassadors also spoke about young people stealing or using each other’s food cards because they couldn't afford to eat.

Mithesh, 14 from Belfast, said: "I've seen loads of people stealing other people's dinner cards to get meals too, because they couldn't afford them so when someone wasn't in, they would steal their dinner card and use it in the canteen to get food." 

Adding to this was Deborah, 16, from London.

She said: "That happens a lot in my school as well, where other students are using their friends' cards to order food. In my school they keep raising the prices of the food so it's really hard for children to get food at lunch.

"Now they ask for your name and have pictures on a screen when you scan your card to check if it’s you because it's that common that children would use their friend's cards to get food."

Speaking about the financial pressures on families and young people, the ambassadors spoke about the lack of nutritious options at lunch.

Keira,16, said: "The high school I attended had very inadequate food: it wasn't nutritious, it was barely enough for anyone to eat. It was the most basic cheap food possible.

"Plus, you'd have to buy extra just to be full. So, my mum ended up putting on far more money than what I was actually receiving off the Free School Meals allowance."

Due to lack of affordable, nutritious options, the young ambassadors revealed some students end up buying food outside of school.

Alex, 16, from Birmingham, told the group: "There's a McDonald's right across from our school so obviously students can go there for very cheap but highly processed foods.

"I'm sure that the effects of not eating properly and having to go outside to the KFC, Greggs, or McDonald's, will see a significant decrease in their ability to succeed.

"They are genuinely stuck either eating the highly processed foods in school or the same but cheaper outside of school."

The young ambassadors also spoke about solutions, including increasing the threshold for Free School Meals and introducing auto-enrolment.

Rushda, 16, from Halifax, argued: "I think it’s really important to take into account that those on Free School Meals get it because they are meeting the threshold.

"For those who are well above it, they can afford to get a meal. But what about those who just miss out because they don’t meet the threshold?

"They are not on Free School Meals, but they're not in a situation to afford that meal as well. And so they're not having the food they need to live a healthy and nutritious life."

It would be impossible to distil everything the young Food Ambassadors talked about into one blog. So, to end, here are their calls to the Government and child poverty taskforce:

• Implement universal Free School Meals for all students, starting with those whose families are on Universal Credit
• Auto-enrol all eligible students onto Free School Meals 
• Increase the income threshold for Free School Meal eligibility (e.g. up to £15,000 as in Northern Ireland) 
• Eliminate the two-child benefit cap 
• Expand and increase holiday food support programmes
• Improve food quality standards in schools 

We hope the taskforce listens.