Access for all primary schoolchildren in the State to free hot meals under the school meals scheme has been widely welcomed. However, the scheme has faced criticism from some parents who have underlined a need for an improvement in the standard of food on offer.
In an article last week, French woman Claire-Marie Murray spoke about being “horrified at the quality” of the mass-produced food for schools in the State.
Introduced in 2003, the scheme started to include hot meals in 2019 with a small pilot scheme of 37 schools. Rate increases for the programme were introduced last year, bringing the rate up to 75c for breakfast, €1.70 for cold lunch, €2.50 for dinner and €3.20 for hot school meals.
Mandatory procurement targets for sourcing from local and organic farms are among the changes being called for by concerned NGOs and parents such as Murray who have seen the evolution of similar schemes abroad.
We asked readers to share their thoughts and experiences of the free hot meals scheme. Their responses cover a huge range of issues, from food waste and nutritional value to single-use packaging and underfunding.
‘I believe we are creating a health crisis for our pupils’
Sinead Mangan (63), Co Roscommon
As a recently
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