The group have been demanding an extension to free school meal support since the end of last year. In January they delivered a petition with over 250,000 signatures to the Government.
Now, their calls are being backed by one of the biggest names in British business who wants to see more being done to support the future workforce.
John Allan, chair of Tesco, Barratt Developments and the Council at Imperial College said: “Improving young people’s employability skills and kick-starting their careers is a cornerstone of a successful business. Before they even get a chance to begin their careers with us, hundreds of thousands of young people living in poverty are being held back by a policy failure that denies them their most basic right: access to a nutritious and sustaining meal in school.
"For those that wish to monetise this basic right of children, research from PwC found for every £1 invested in extending free school meals, £1.38 would be returned into the economy resulting in £8.9bn in core social, health and educational benefits over 20 years. The case for action is overwhelmingly popular. It seems like an economic, political and moral no brainer. In a political landscape where these are hard to come by, I hope the Government will recognise this opportunity.”
Figures from June 2022 showed that 800,000 school age children in England are living in poverty, but are not deemed ‘poor’ enough to qualify for free school meals. Bite Back 2030 believes there is ‘worrying evidence’ of children being forced to skip meals or search for cheap unhealthy options from outside the school gates.
Research carried out by Savanta in December 2022, found just 4% of young people aged 16 to 21-years-old agreed that the Government cares if they have enough healthy food to eat. While one in five (19%) reported seeing a peer go hungry at school, college or university because they weren't able to afford lunch.
Luke, a 17-year-old Bite Back member, added: “The Government isn’t listening to young people who have said time and time again that support with nutritious school food would make a massive difference to their health, wellbeing and futures. More than a quarter of a million people have signed our petition, but the Government is ignoring us instead of taking action to support children and their families.
“It’s in the Government's interests to fix this and they have the power to do so. We want to sit down with the Chancellor and help him understand the massive difference extending school meals would make to health and futures.”
John Allan’s full opinion piece on why he’s backing the campaign to extend free school meals can be found on the Bite Back website here.