Visitor attractions are “slicing, dicing and ditching” children’s menus as they battle with rising ingredient costs and staff shortages, a new Soil Association campaign has revealed. The food and farming charity has ranked 16 of the UK’s leading attractions in a new league table after an army of “secret diner” parents helped to assess the quality of food on offer. The investigation found children’s menus are suffering as venues and caterers face huge pressures following Covid-19 closures and ongoing staffing and supply chain disruption linked to Brexit and the Ukraine war. Parents reported a lack of options with children’s menus removed entirely or smaller than before the pandemic. Children aren’t offered hot meals at almost half of venues and several only offered 'nutritionally inadequate' packed lunches lacking fruit or veg. A lack of kids’ meals and an abundance of sugary treats saw Drayton Manor take bottom place in the league table – while the Eden Project came top by serving balanced meals with local, fresh, sustainable ingredients. Soil Association Head of Food Policy, Rob Percival said, “It’s alarming that venues are slicing, dicing, or ditching child appropriate menus. It’s a tough environment for caterers, who are grappling with staff shortages and rising ingredients costs, but it’s disappointing that children's health seems to be taking the hit. 'In a cost-of-living crisis, when every penny counts, parents should not be forced to buy large adult portions or waste money on nutritionally inadequate meals for their children.” The investigation found having a range of children’s meals and healthy options were the top priorities for parents on a day out. More than half of parents surveyed chose one of these options as their number one priority, compared to just 1% who picked 'treat' or 'junk' food. But less than half of these leading attractions are serving veg with every kid’s meal – while adults are offered a much larger and diverse menu with more choices to eat healthily. Rob added, “Everyone likes a treat, but our secret diner parents told us they want diverse and exciting children’s menus. They also want attractions to make it easy for their youngsters to enjoy a healthy meal on days out – some of these attractions simply must do better. “It’s essential that venues take responsibility for how family days out shape expectations around 'treat food'. They must stop promoting an unhealthy ideal which, parents tell us, tracks back home. “Offering more veg and less fried or sugary food isn’t that difficult or expensive. In fact, there is little variation in meal prices between the top and bottom of the league table, and several high performing attractions have free entry. “Finding good food for kids is the real roller coaster at UK attractions, but there are some great examples of caterers who do put children’s health first. The others must catch up.' The investigation found that the higher quality meals at the top two attractions are also among the more affordable days out. Second place holder Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh doesn’t charge for entry and eating out at league table leader Eden Project costs just 24p more than dining with bottom-place Drayton Manor. Becky Fenner, Eden Projects's Hospitality Manager, noted, “We are delighted to have come top of the Out to Lunch league table. The Eden Project’s mission centres around building relationships between people and planet to demonstrate the power of working together for the benefit of all living things. 'Central to this is our food story. We explore ways to deliver Earth-friendly food at scale using a food system rather than a food product approach, finding ways of producing food in a regenerative system that is climate positive, increases biodiversity and enhances soil health. Healthy planet – healthy people.”