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Universal Free School Meals
What do you think of this scheme?
http://
I think it's a great idea, but then there are others who might think that free school meals don't make sense for those who can afford to pay.
http://
I think it's a great idea, but then there are others who might think that free school meals don't make sense for those who can afford to pay.
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"The responsibility for feeding them properly should not be passed on to schools. "
Why not? Virtually all kids are there on a daily basis, and it has a lunch hall. Why force another institution into the equation purely because you feel put out by having to pay for it?
Do you feel it's wrong to force everyone to pay for street lighting too? Even if they don't use it?
Why not? Virtually all kids are there on a daily basis, and it has a lunch hall. Why force another institution into the equation purely because you feel put out by having to pay for it?
Do you feel it's wrong to force everyone to pay for street lighting too? Even if they don't use it?
There is no stigma these days as no one stands in the Free meal line any more and to be honest kids don't really care who gets free meals and who doesn't. As for School meals not being healthy, well New Judge, tell me when was the last time you looked at a school menu? Try this one...
http://
http://
Your comparison to street lighting is fatuous, Kromo. I won't even begin to argue the point.
I'm put out by the notion of free school meals because everybody in the UK, even the poorest, is provided with sufficient means to pay for their children's nourishment.
Yes, the menu does look attractive, retro. So do those advertising "Big Macs" on bus shelters.
This government is supposed to be trying to curb public spending. Yet it sees it necessary to feed, free of charge, children whose parents already have adequate (and in most cases, more than adequate) funds to pay for their nourishment. In almost all cases these parents are already being paid, in the form of Child Allowance, funds to help with the children's upbringing. It needs to decide whether it is really interested in ensuring the nation's economic recovery or whether it wants to nurture people from cradle to grave. It cannot do both.
I'm put out by the notion of free school meals because everybody in the UK, even the poorest, is provided with sufficient means to pay for their children's nourishment.
Yes, the menu does look attractive, retro. So do those advertising "Big Macs" on bus shelters.
This government is supposed to be trying to curb public spending. Yet it sees it necessary to feed, free of charge, children whose parents already have adequate (and in most cases, more than adequate) funds to pay for their nourishment. In almost all cases these parents are already being paid, in the form of Child Allowance, funds to help with the children's upbringing. It needs to decide whether it is really interested in ensuring the nation's economic recovery or whether it wants to nurture people from cradle to grave. It cannot do both.
I didn't mean it as a serious comparison, I meant it as a fatuous one. it just seems to be the kind of sentiment that motivating some of the people on this thread.
If the current system is resulting in children being underfed, it needs to change. Universal school meals is a much better alternative than simply doling out money.
If the current system is resulting in children being underfed, it needs to change. Universal school meals is a much better alternative than simply doling out money.
new judge wrote
''Yes, the menu does look attractive, retro. So do those advertising "Big Macs" on bus shelters. ''
Pardon? you stated school dinners were not nutritious, I posted a link to menus from a school to prove they weren't the stodgy suet laden dinners of old.. What has that got to do with advertising Big Macs?
''Yes, the menu does look attractive, retro. So do those advertising "Big Macs" on bus shelters. ''
Pardon? you stated school dinners were not nutritious, I posted a link to menus from a school to prove they weren't the stodgy suet laden dinners of old.. What has that got to do with advertising Big Macs?
If a parent can not afford to purchase sufficient nourishment for their children then that is what the Welfare 'safety net' is for. If they can afford to do so and don't bother then that should be picked up by the authorities and the relevant action taken against the parents. The solution is not to get the rest of us to pay for everyone's lifestyle choice to have offspring, giving folk no incentive to be responsible.
"Why force another institution into the equation..."
What, like their parents, you mean? Heaven forbid! We wouldn't want them "forced into the equation", would we?
What I mean, retro, is that your menus look and sound attractive. In reality it may mean a "pre-prepared" version of the items (full of additives and preservatives and "mechanically reclaimed meat steamed from the carcass") being hauled down the M4 to be heated up in one of Mr Clegg's microwaves for the little darlings. The providers of these meals work to a price, not to quality.
What, like their parents, you mean? Heaven forbid! We wouldn't want them "forced into the equation", would we?
What I mean, retro, is that your menus look and sound attractive. In reality it may mean a "pre-prepared" version of the items (full of additives and preservatives and "mechanically reclaimed meat steamed from the carcass") being hauled down the M4 to be heated up in one of Mr Clegg's microwaves for the little darlings. The providers of these meals work to a price, not to quality.
NJ
It's so easy to say "make the parents do it." It's a lot harder to do. Negligent parents exist, and they can effectively destroy their child's chances of a healthy future. I'm sure we both agree on that.
If you can prove to me that free and nutritious meals don't improve average child health, I will concede you're right. But I suspect you can't/won't.
It's so easy to say "make the parents do it." It's a lot harder to do. Negligent parents exist, and they can effectively destroy their child's chances of a healthy future. I'm sure we both agree on that.
If you can prove to me that free and nutritious meals don't improve average child health, I will concede you're right. But I suspect you can't/won't.
As I said earlier, Kromo, unless they have a disability which makes it impossible for them to do so, people unwilling or unable to feed their children (the most basic and important requirement for their survival) should have them taken into care and rehomed with parents who can and will.
This report:
https:/
was commissioned by the government to examine the whole issue of free school meals. To save you wading through the 150-odd pages, on page 3 (of the document, not the pdf), within the "Executive Summary" you'll find this:
"There was no evidence that the FSM pilot led to significant health benefits during the two year pilot period. For example, there was no evidence of any change in children’s Body Mass Index."
So, no evidence of improved health.
On page 147, among "Conclusions and findings" is this:
"It should also be remembered that the long-term benefits of the pilot (and many of these other programmes) remain uncertain. Whether the immediate benefits in terms of higher attainment or healthier eating habits observed during primary school will translate into higher wages and better health during adulthood, or whether these benefits will quickly dissipate, remain open questions. It should also be remembered that the long -term benefits of the pilot (and many of these other programmes) remain uncertain. Whether the immediate benefits in terms of higher attainment or healthier eating habits observed during primary school will translate into higher wages and better health during adulthood, or whether these benefits will quickly dissipate, remain open questions."
So, long-term benefits not too clear cut either. And even if it was it is parents' responsibility to effect these changes, not the State's.
I don't blame the recipients for this. As I said, if the State offered me free petrol I might be down there myself. This idea was the brainchild of Mr Clegg who, in one of his "hissy fits" decided to fete even more money and gifts on people most of whom do not need it, taken from a revenue pot already under severe strain and relieving parents of the responsibility and the cost of the most basic of duties they should perform for their children.
This report:
https:/
was commissioned by the government to examine the whole issue of free school meals. To save you wading through the 150-odd pages, on page 3 (of the document, not the pdf), within the "Executive Summary" you'll find this:
"There was no evidence that the FSM pilot led to significant health benefits during the two year pilot period. For example, there was no evidence of any change in children’s Body Mass Index."
So, no evidence of improved health.
On page 147, among "Conclusions and findings" is this:
"It should also be remembered that the long-term benefits of the pilot (and many of these other programmes) remain uncertain. Whether the immediate benefits in terms of higher attainment or healthier eating habits observed during primary school will translate into higher wages and better health during adulthood, or whether these benefits will quickly dissipate, remain open questions. It should also be remembered that the long -term benefits of the pilot (and many of these other programmes) remain uncertain. Whether the immediate benefits in terms of higher attainment or healthier eating habits observed during primary school will translate into higher wages and better health during adulthood, or whether these benefits will quickly dissipate, remain open questions."
So, long-term benefits not too clear cut either. And even if it was it is parents' responsibility to effect these changes, not the State's.
I don't blame the recipients for this. As I said, if the State offered me free petrol I might be down there myself. This idea was the brainchild of Mr Clegg who, in one of his "hissy fits" decided to fete even more money and gifts on people most of whom do not need it, taken from a revenue pot already under severe strain and relieving parents of the responsibility and the cost of the most basic of duties they should perform for their children.
Not at the Primary School where my Sister works (Yeovil, Somerset) - they didn't even have a Kitchen at the end of the Summer! They took the Schools Minister on a field trip, to show how they'd get 80 or 90 kids from the School (Which faces a busy dual carriageway) to the local College (A good 10 or 15 minute walk for an Adult) to get their meals. They had to cross two or three main roads, eat and then get them all back again in one hour.
I haven't spoken to her today, so I don't know how her first day back went...
I haven't spoken to her today, so I don't know how her first day back went...
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