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.
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
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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
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Here’s what others said about the entire situation
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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
Yeah.. usually they are mates. The government has got to stop awarding contracts to their besties.
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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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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.
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... Could someone from the UK explain this a bit? I mean, it is obvious that packing and distributing costs more than grocery shopping. But do people cook this by themselves, or does it get prepared in any way?
Briefly - food for school children who are missing school meals while out of school due to Covid. Parents having extra food expenditure due to their children being at home. Food parcel with tins, dried and fresh produce for people to cook themselves.
Load More Replies...
Chartwells' CEO and board should spend the next few years in prison. And the company must be wiped out from existence.
In the US this is called 'privatization'. It's done for food, prisons, schools/education, etc. There is often a relationship between the politicians & these companies (donors/supporters). This is also true for other contracts - see: $10,000 toilet seats. It is, in a word, corruption.
Boris has already stated that they are looking into it. Surely the vouchers make more sense? I can do a massive shop at Aldi for under a tenner!
Allegedly 75% of schools chose to go with vouchers and not the parcels - one wonders why but then I'm a cynical bastard. The company has apologised and the Education Secretary has jumped up and down squeaking about how bad this is - ugh, Gavin Williamson you are a huge waste of space. They have promised to do better from Monday and increase the value of the parcel. Which apparently was meant to be £10.50 for one week and not £30 for two weeks - but even knowing that it is still bad.
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Another example of selfishness & greed by companies that should have to justify how they think this is acceptable. I'm f*cking fed up of business's that think they're untouchable (Grenfell's Arconic anyone?) You take the p*ss and you should have to deal with the consequences of your selfish actions.
Let's explain how govt purchasing works for that 30. They need to cover costs of compliance officers, lawyers for all the govt paperwork, staff to keep track of every purchase and disbursment, etc. Once all those expenses are out of the way they can then use the rest to buy food. This is why these programs are ineffecient
Government contract to a private company so not exactly like that. Avoiding those issues are the very reason private companies get utilised - though this requires much greater scrutiny for many reasons. However, I agree that these things are inefficient. The company has buying power and so should get items at a much cheaper price than anyone just popping to the supermarket but they do have logistics to pay for. This is why a voucher system would be far better. The company has accepted they've done badly and investigations are taking place - which will only add to the bill unfortunately. Though it is necessary. A mess. Marcus Rashford for PM! Once he's finished playing footie.
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In our district they give you a weeks worth of what they give at school lunch frozen for lunch and dinner. Just pull up to the school and they deliver to your car. Also when the kids are in school it’s all free. Yes this is Indiana in the USA.
This is disgraceful. The ones that really got to me were seeing the *portions* of bread or pasta, repackaged to skimp as much as possible instead of just giving them the whole damn box!
Yes in state schools there is the requirement to provide a meal, preferably hot if possible. It is not for free except for the youngest children (I think first two years). There are those who can apply for free school meals due to hardship. Those getting these parcels are eligible for free school meals and as the children are home due to Covid they are obviously not getting the usual meal and so food parcels were meant to make up for this. Hope that explains it - and that I've got all the facts right.
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Jesus Mary and Jerome, this is outrageous! Even if you add the costs of transportation and packing it's still in no way decent value for those 30£ On top of that, those packages contain mainly carbohydrates and next to none of any other nutrients! This is food that in a long run MAKES YOU HUNGRY more, because of how fast it's burned by your body. And lastly: is it just me or there's something simply disgusting in giving a family HALF a tomato? You can't even buy them that way, which means that someone intentionally mishandled those poor fruits and vegetables just to skimp a PENNY or two on this 😭😡😭😡😭😡
Jesus that is insane. I LIve in illinois and they issued EBT cards to all kids who get free lunch. Now in my county literally everyone in my school district gets free lunch. I was expecting maybe $20 a week (or less than $100 per month) we got it preloaded with 3 1/2 months on it because it took so long to get it out. We received $160 a month for our one child. Families receive a card for each child. So if you have 3 kids you receive almost $500 a month, to help feed them.
Governments use companies 2which have to arrange this and yes get paid and yes they don't buy the cheapest produced in China fruit. So yeah she has a point but it's not that black and white.
The most heartbreaking post I've ever seen. Likely to turn me into a David Icken fan: Keep them poor and then mock them for not having what it takes to feed themselves while making a huge profit. Shame is not the word.
No doubt more jobs for the mates by the Conservative party, 500% profit, easy money. Seems to me that food vouchers/payment cards would be a better option, then parents can buy what they need, make savings, find bargains, as they are probably already good at this.
This is terrible! I'm from the US, and usually, I admit, my country does thing the stupid, a**-backwards way. But in this one instance, we got it right. We DO offer food parcels to low income kids who are not in physical school. But they also give us 'Pandemic-EBT' cards. Similar to your vouchers, I'd think. Ours are pre-loaded with the allocated funds (about $5 per kid per school day, I think), and we just take them to the grocery store, pick out whatever we choose (except alcohol or tobacco, ofc) and use them like food stamp cards. Works perfectly. I will say, though, I've been to a food bank on occasion (not at the school, just in general), and the parcels we're given there can be pretty bad, sometimes.
Big Government, the Nanny State. Their response is always the same: "Of couse we're solving problems: just look at how much money we're spending!" Remember Marsano's Law: "Financial waste increases exponentially according to the distance between earned (that's YOU, taxpayers) and spender (politicos and bureaucrats).
There is NO WAY on this Earth that that meagre selection of foodstuffs comes to £30. Someone, somewhere has a LOT to answer for.
Why do these articles insist on writing "30 pounds" instead of "£30"? We have a symbol for our currency, fecking use it
I expect Chartwells' response will be something along the lines of: "We welcome this opportunity to engage with our partners and stakeholders and we are exited to move forward synergistically while providing an uplifting and empowering experience."
I converted to dollars. My hubby & I could eat for five days on that sum. We frequently *do*. Shame on people leaving children hungry! I was sometimes painfully hungry as a kid (various reason) and I hope these jerks get chiggers in their... ah.... posterior fundamental orifices.
Why are they all complaining? They got potatoes! (This is a joke. I totally agree with everyone.)
Not on the same level of needs but... I remember when my high school (several years after I graduated) required students to buy a laptop. The requirements were understandable since it was private catholic all girls prep school.... but the woman put in charge of choosing the laptops must have been getting at least a minor kickback because the laptop was a very specific, expensive one that broke SOOO easily. If I had been going to the school when they required these laptops I wouldn't have been able to afford one either.
Children should not be hungry because of their parent's misfortune. See, this is the thing. It is coming from tax payers money. The parents probably paid into that. Besides, it is ridiculous that they should just be grateful and quiet when they've been giving rotten fruit and vegetables or no vegetables at all. These are children. They need healthy diets to grow.. Before you say anything, a handful of pasta and bread is not a healthy diet. Furthermore, the uproar is that a company which was supposed to pay 30 pounds for food, thought they could get away with something that seems to cost 5. Something there doesn't add up, does it?
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I think you are missing a bit of info K - this is a program purely brought about because of current circumstances with children home from school and parents having extra expenditure due to Covid. Normally they'd be fed a school meal (though some bring in a packed lunch, but that is the choice). There are other things that are done to help people with child care costs in the UK as there is the belief that poor people should not be prevented from having children just because they're poor. Hence child benefit - though this is now capped at, I think (not sure) 2 children. The current view is that anyone wanting more than two should only really do so if they can afford it themselves. The pandemic is very much a part of this which is why people are pointing it out.
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Don't defend this. If the parents are given vouchers, then they are ONLY able to buy food items with them, it's not hard to enforce that. This is shameful and indefensible. I can't speak to the veracity of the claim that the contractor is only paid £10.50 for the food, so I'd appreciate a link if you have one. But even if that is the case, then how does that make any sense, even if the contractor is buying at cost?
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Did she actually say that? Isn't she only saying the box equals roughly £5 of goods when it's meant to be more than that? The box is to make up for children not getting school meals and to cover additional costs for the parents. Also, a private company has messed up here - yes, the Government awarded the contract but to a company that is supposed to know what they are doing (for once).
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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
Yeah.. usually they are mates. The government has got to stop awarding contracts to their besties.
Load More Replies... 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... 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.
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... Could someone from the UK explain this a bit? I mean, it is obvious that packing and distributing costs more than grocery shopping. But do people cook this by themselves, or does it get prepared in any way?
Briefly - food for school children who are missing school meals while out of school due to Covid. Parents having extra food expenditure due to their children being at home. Food parcel with tins, dried and fresh produce for people to cook themselves.
Load More Replies... Chartwells' CEO and board should spend the next few years in prison. And the company must be wiped out from existence.
In the US this is called 'privatization'. It's done for food, prisons, schools/education, etc. There is often a relationship between the politicians & these companies (donors/supporters). This is also true for other contracts - see: $10,000 toilet seats. It is, in a word, corruption.
Boris has already stated that they are looking into it. Surely the vouchers make more sense? I can do a massive shop at Aldi for under a tenner!
Allegedly 75% of schools chose to go with vouchers and not the parcels - one wonders why but then I'm a cynical bastard. The company has apologised and the Education Secretary has jumped up and down squeaking about how bad this is - ugh, Gavin Williamson you are a huge waste of space. They have promised to do better from Monday and increase the value of the parcel. Which apparently was meant to be £10.50 for one week and not £30 for two weeks - but even knowing that it is still bad.
Load More Replies... Another example of selfishness & greed by companies that should have to justify how they think this is acceptable. I'm f*cking fed up of business's that think they're untouchable (Grenfell's Arconic anyone?) You take the p*ss and you should have to deal with the consequences of your selfish actions.
Let's explain how govt purchasing works for that 30. They need to cover costs of compliance officers, lawyers for all the govt paperwork, staff to keep track of every purchase and disbursment, etc. Once all those expenses are out of the way they can then use the rest to buy food. This is why these programs are ineffecient
Government contract to a private company so not exactly like that. Avoiding those issues are the very reason private companies get utilised - though this requires much greater scrutiny for many reasons. However, I agree that these things are inefficient. The company has buying power and so should get items at a much cheaper price than anyone just popping to the supermarket but they do have logistics to pay for. This is why a voucher system would be far better. The company has accepted they've done badly and investigations are taking place - which will only add to the bill unfortunately. Though it is necessary. A mess. Marcus Rashford for PM! Once he's finished playing footie.
Load More Replies... In our district they give you a weeks worth of what they give at school lunch frozen for lunch and dinner. Just pull up to the school and they deliver to your car. Also when the kids are in school it’s all free. Yes this is Indiana in the USA.
This is disgraceful. The ones that really got to me were seeing the *portions* of bread or pasta, repackaged to skimp as much as possible instead of just giving them the whole damn box!
Yes in state schools there is the requirement to provide a meal, preferably hot if possible. It is not for free except for the youngest children (I think first two years). There are those who can apply for free school meals due to hardship. Those getting these parcels are eligible for free school meals and as the children are home due to Covid they are obviously not getting the usual meal and so food parcels were meant to make up for this. Hope that explains it - and that I've got all the facts right.
Load More Replies... Jesus Mary and Jerome, this is outrageous! Even if you add the costs of transportation and packing it's still in no way decent value for those 30£ On top of that, those packages contain mainly carbohydrates and next to none of any other nutrients! This is food that in a long run MAKES YOU HUNGRY more, because of how fast it's burned by your body. And lastly: is it just me or there's something simply disgusting in giving a family HALF a tomato? You can't even buy them that way, which means that someone intentionally mishandled those poor fruits and vegetables just to skimp a PENNY or two on this 😭😡😭😡😭😡
Jesus that is insane. I LIve in illinois and they issued EBT cards to all kids who get free lunch. Now in my county literally everyone in my school district gets free lunch. I was expecting maybe $20 a week (or less than $100 per month) we got it preloaded with 3 1/2 months on it because it took so long to get it out. We received $160 a month for our one child. Families receive a card for each child. So if you have 3 kids you receive almost $500 a month, to help feed them.
Governments use companies 2which have to arrange this and yes get paid and yes they don't buy the cheapest produced in China fruit. So yeah she has a point but it's not that black and white.
The most heartbreaking post I've ever seen. Likely to turn me into a David Icken fan: Keep them poor and then mock them for not having what it takes to feed themselves while making a huge profit. Shame is not the word.
No doubt more jobs for the mates by the Conservative party, 500% profit, easy money. Seems to me that food vouchers/payment cards would be a better option, then parents can buy what they need, make savings, find bargains, as they are probably already good at this.
This is terrible! I'm from the US, and usually, I admit, my country does thing the stupid, a**-backwards way. But in this one instance, we got it right. We DO offer food parcels to low income kids who are not in physical school. But they also give us 'Pandemic-EBT' cards. Similar to your vouchers, I'd think. Ours are pre-loaded with the allocated funds (about $5 per kid per school day, I think), and we just take them to the grocery store, pick out whatever we choose (except alcohol or tobacco, ofc) and use them like food stamp cards. Works perfectly. I will say, though, I've been to a food bank on occasion (not at the school, just in general), and the parcels we're given there can be pretty bad, sometimes.
Big Government, the Nanny State. Their response is always the same: "Of couse we're solving problems: just look at how much money we're spending!" Remember Marsano's Law: "Financial waste increases exponentially according to the distance between earned (that's YOU, taxpayers) and spender (politicos and bureaucrats).
There is NO WAY on this Earth that that meagre selection of foodstuffs comes to £30. Someone, somewhere has a LOT to answer for.
Why do these articles insist on writing "30 pounds" instead of "£30"? We have a symbol for our currency, fecking use it
I expect Chartwells' response will be something along the lines of: "We welcome this opportunity to engage with our partners and stakeholders and we are exited to move forward synergistically while providing an uplifting and empowering experience."
I converted to dollars. My hubby & I could eat for five days on that sum. We frequently *do*. Shame on people leaving children hungry! I was sometimes painfully hungry as a kid (various reason) and I hope these jerks get chiggers in their... ah.... posterior fundamental orifices.
Why are they all complaining? They got potatoes! (This is a joke. I totally agree with everyone.)
Not on the same level of needs but... I remember when my high school (several years after I graduated) required students to buy a laptop. The requirements were understandable since it was private catholic all girls prep school.... but the woman put in charge of choosing the laptops must have been getting at least a minor kickback because the laptop was a very specific, expensive one that broke SOOO easily. If I had been going to the school when they required these laptops I wouldn't have been able to afford one either.
Children should not be hungry because of their parent's misfortune. See, this is the thing. It is coming from tax payers money. The parents probably paid into that. Besides, it is ridiculous that they should just be grateful and quiet when they've been giving rotten fruit and vegetables or no vegetables at all. These are children. They need healthy diets to grow.. Before you say anything, a handful of pasta and bread is not a healthy diet. Furthermore, the uproar is that a company which was supposed to pay 30 pounds for food, thought they could get away with something that seems to cost 5. Something there doesn't add up, does it?
Load More Replies... I think you are missing a bit of info K - this is a program purely brought about because of current circumstances with children home from school and parents having extra expenditure due to Covid. Normally they'd be fed a school meal (though some bring in a packed lunch, but that is the choice). There are other things that are done to help people with child care costs in the UK as there is the belief that poor people should not be prevented from having children just because they're poor. Hence child benefit - though this is now capped at, I think (not sure) 2 children. The current view is that anyone wanting more than two should only really do so if they can afford it themselves. The pandemic is very much a part of this which is why people are pointing it out.
Load More Replies... Don't defend this. If the parents are given vouchers, then they are ONLY able to buy food items with them, it's not hard to enforce that. This is shameful and indefensible. I can't speak to the veracity of the claim that the contractor is only paid £10.50 for the food, so I'd appreciate a link if you have one. But even if that is the case, then how does that make any sense, even if the contractor is buying at cost?
Load More Replies... Did she actually say that? Isn't she only saying the box equals roughly £5 of goods when it's meant to be more than that? The box is to make up for children not getting school meals and to cover additional costs for the parents. Also, a private company has messed up here - yes, the Government awarded the contract but to a company that is supposed to know what they are doing (for once).
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