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Mom Calls Out The Government After Comparing What She Could Buy For £30 Vs. What The Government Bought For £30
While I absolutely love the United Kingdom, its culture, nature, and food, even I can’t deny that some of the things going on there during the Covid-19 pandemic range from full-on dystopian to just downright dingy. Case in point, parents, regular Brits, and celebs alike are up in arms over the free school meal parcels handed out to low-income families by the firm Chartwells.
After Twitter user Roadside Mum posted a photo of the meager food parcel provided by the firm, the story was almost immediately picked up by internet users and the media. She wasn’t the only one to get such a package, either. Even footballer and free school meal campaigner Marcus Rashford got involved, speaking with Chartwells. Meanwhile, the UK Government has also begun investigating the situation with its food suppliers.
Let’s call a spade a spade: some of the food packages sent by Chartwells look pathetic. The pandemic is a difficult time for all of us—laypeople and businesses alike—but it’s no excuse to skimp out on feeding Britain’s future leaders. Does this pile of food look like it’s worth 30 pounds and is supposed to last 10 school days like Roadside Mum thought? Not even close! It looks like something you could pick up at your local shop for around a fiver.
Bored Panda has reached out to Rashford, Roadside Mum, Chartwells, as well as Keil Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, for further comments on the situation.
RELATED:
A British mum started a storm online after she shared a photo of the free school meal parcel her family got that was supposedly meant to be worth 30 pounds
Image credits: RoadsideMum
Image credits: RoadsideMum
What British food package wouldn’t be complete without a can of beans, right? Pity it doesn’t make up for the meager quantity of food. To be fair, Chartwells has apologized. They stated that the food was only meant to last a single school week, not two; however, they accepted the fact that an insufficient amount was delivered in some cases.
“This does not reflect the specification of one of our hampers,” the firm wrote on Twitter. They also specified what kind of nutritious food was supposed to arrive in the free school meal hampers. Chartwells is also not the only British firm to deliver food hampers to students while they’re distance-learning from home during the latest lockdown.
Chartwells also claims that instead of 30 pounds, the charge for food, distribution, and packaging was allegedly 10.50 pounds.
Footballer Rashford called the situation “unacceptable” and urged everyone to do better. Meanwhile, a representative of the Labour Party told Bored Panda that they have called upon the UK Government to restart the national food vouchers scheme.
Twitter users were astonished that this happened and commented online
Image credits: Munchbunch87
Even footballer Marcus Rashford, known for his great support of free school meal vouchers, pitched in with his opinion
Image credits: MarcusRashford
Image credits: MarcusRashford
Other parents quickly shared photos of the food hampers their children received. The images are shocking
Image credits: Chef1Wayner
Image credits: HelenaFinch
Image credits: kiasaas
Image credits: Sophie202327
Image credits: nickb123452
Image credits: shirleyjones999
Image credits: BootstrapCook
Image credits: BootstrapCook
The Department for Education is looking into the situation while Chartwells, one of the firms delivering free food, apologized
Image credits: educationgovuk
Some Twitter users calculated how much the food in the photos was actually worth
Image credits: ShowTrialStudio
Image credits: Aarondonegal
Here’s what others said about the entire situation
Image credits: sallymiranda
Image credits: PALythgoe
Image credits: jcshy
Image credits: AdeFashina
Image credits: MoaningLefty
Image credits: lishunter
Image credits: ComedyDave
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What do you think ?
Hooked 4 years ago
This actually made my eyes tear a bit. Disgusting. I would like to see the plan they submitted with which they won the bidding for this project. There has to be something in there that convinced the Department of Education to grant it to them
Carrie Laughs 4 years ago
Yeah.. usually they are mates. The government has got to stop awarding contracts to their besties.
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Liam Walsh 4 years ago
Yes and no... These days these things get called out, made public and the company shamed. What surprises me is that companies haven't cottoned on to that small detail yet and don't try harder in the first place. I'm hoping that they will genuinely make an effort to improve these - or sort out a decent voucher program so that parents can make the choices. Some children have special dietary requirements which this in no way takes into account.
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Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
So taxpayers are paying for rotten veg, meat that's nearly expired, tiny portions of rice and pasta (which are cheap af), plastic wrapped fake cheese slices? Did Chartwell dig through someone's compost heap for this crap? Unbelievable. They should have just provided vouchers for local markets.
Lucas 4 years ago
I've just read that schools could choose to offer vouchers or food parcels. It is claimed that 75% chose the vouchers. There shouldn't be that level of disparity between the value of hte vouchers and the parcels though. They are supposed to be improving the parcels from Monday... we shall see.
Load More Replies... Hooked 4 years ago
This actually made my eyes tear a bit. Disgusting. I would like to see the plan they submitted with which they won the bidding for this project. There has to be something in there that convinced the Department of Education to grant it to them
Carrie Laughs 4 years ago
Yeah.. usually they are mates. The government has got to stop awarding contracts to their besties.
Load More Replies... Liam Walsh 4 years ago
Yes and no... These days these things get called out, made public and the company shamed. What surprises me is that companies haven't cottoned on to that small detail yet and don't try harder in the first place. I'm hoping that they will genuinely make an effort to improve these - or sort out a decent voucher program so that parents can make the choices. Some children have special dietary requirements which this in no way takes into account.
Load More Replies... Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
So taxpayers are paying for rotten veg, meat that's nearly expired, tiny portions of rice and pasta (which are cheap af), plastic wrapped fake cheese slices? Did Chartwell dig through someone's compost heap for this crap? Unbelievable. They should have just provided vouchers for local markets.
Lucas 4 years ago
I've just read that schools could choose to offer vouchers or food parcels. It is claimed that 75% chose the vouchers. There shouldn't be that level of disparity between the value of hte vouchers and the parcels though. They are supposed to be improving the parcels from Monday... we shall see.
Load More Replies...
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