Survey results show the average price of a school meal will rise to £2.65 this year meaning more children will be at risk of being denied access to a healthy diet, says The Food Foundation. The survey carried out by LACA, which represents more than 3,300 school food suppliers and kitchen staff, shows an average rise of almost 20% in the cost of a school meal since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, when it was around £2.24.  School caterers say they are seeing rising debts as increasing numbers of children come to school with no lunch money. There are fears that many more will fall through the cracks because their families cannot afford to pay for school food, but do not meet the threshold for free meals. Zoe McIntyre Children’s Right2Food project manager at The Food Foundation, said, “This jump in the price of a school meal will hit families very hard when so many are already struggling with the continuing rise in the cost of food and other bills, and it is particularly concerning for the 800,000 children living in poverty who don't qualify for a free school meal because the eligibility criteria are too restrictive. “For many of these children, a nutritious school meal will be totally unaffordable, forcing families to make difficult choices to ensure their children can eat during the school day. It's likely we'll see more children switching to packed lunches which cost families less, but we also know that less than 2% of children’s lunchboxes meet school food standards.” The Food Foundation is calling for the expansion of free school meal provision so all the estimated 800,000 children from families living below the poverty line can access them as part of the Feed the Future campaign. The price hike has also drawn anger from The Food Foundation’s Young Food Ambassadors. Jacob Kennedy, aged 18 from Glasgow, studying for an NQ in Broadcasting, Radio and Television added: “This will affect?families?who are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis as well as increasing energy bills. It will force families to make decisions on whether they feed their children or whether they pay their energy bills which is ridiculous. “Extending free school meals for children whose families are on Universal Credit is a step that the Government should take and being a young person who was in this scheme, I know it’s a necessity for children to be helped to get food, especially during this challenging time for the country.” (source: LACA, image: rawpixel)