All posts tagged: meals

Universal infant free school meals funding rises by 5p

Universal infant free school meals funding rises by 5p

But funding still lags far behind the actual cost of providing meals in schools But funding still lags far behind the actual cost of providing meals in schools More from this theme Recent articles The rate of funding paid to schools for universal infant free school meals has increased by 5p, but remains far below the estimated actual cost of providing lunches. Schools were initially funded from September based on last year’s rate of £2.53 per meal after a decision on any increase was kicked down the road because of July’s election. But the Department for Education has confirmed today it has increased the rate to £2.58, a rise of 5p, or 2 per cent, and back-dated the increase to September. However, despite the rise, the new rate remains far below the estimated cost of actually providing meals. A recent report from School Food Matters estimated it actually costs £3.16 per meal to provide a hot lunch to pupils. This suggests many schools are either subsidising the meals from elsewhere in their budgets or are …

The cost of our dysfunctional school meals system

The cost of our dysfunctional school meals system

More from this theme Recent articles The government’s first budget brought some good news for schools, with funding allocated to roll out free breakfast clubs to hundreds of primary schools and additional funding for school buildings, early years and SEND. These are welcome measures, but they don’t amount to the ‘bold action’ government pledged it would take to tackle child poverty and remove barriers to opportunity. They leave family incomes stretched and children going without all that they need to thrive. Teachers and school staff see the impact of this on a daily basis: children without technology to complete homework, pupils missing school because they can’t afford bus fares, and pupils struggling to concentrate because they are distracted by worry about family finances. In an average classroom, nine children in every 30 are growing up in poverty. School staff are also increasingly witnessing hungry children not getting enough to eat. The expansion of breakfast provision in primary schools is a first step towards addressing child hunger in our classrooms, but the free school meal (FSM) …

Did the Wily Neanderthal Save Time While Preparing Meals?

Did the Wily Neanderthal Save Time While Preparing Meals?

Recently, archaeologists went where no modern cooks have ventured before: They tried to recreate Neanderthal cooking. In a recent paper in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology, Mariana Nabais et al. note that Neanderthals in the Eurasian steppe enjoyed a varied diet: Surveys of their campsites suggest Neanderthals ate nuts, fruits, mushrooms, shellfish, and other food that was easy to gather. They butchered and ate horses, reindeer, bison, and mammoths. In fact, evidence suggests that Neanderthals hunted any animal they could find, even the most dangerous, like cave bears, wolves, and fearsome cave lions. Tibi Puiu, “Scientists Recreate Neanderthal Cooking Methods, and the Results Are Eye-Opening,” ZME Science, July 24, 2024 The paper is open access. Nabais’s team decided to focus its cuisine efforts on preparing birds, even though we don’t have direct evidence that Neanderthals ate them. But, as Puiu explains at ZME Science, In all likelihood, Neanderthals also ate whatever birds they could lay their hands on. However, cooked bird remains and their fragile bones leave few traces. To learn more about how our extinct …

If the government is serious about tackling child poverty, it should extend free school meals

If the government is serious about tackling child poverty, it should extend free school meals

The government has created a new ministerial taskforce for its child poverty strategy, led by Work and Pensions secretary Liz Kendall and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson. It is urgently needed: 4.3 million children in the UK are living in poverty. The government has already committed to making sure free breakfast clubs are available in all primary schools in England. We know that having a good breakfast at school can help improve child behaviour and readiness to learn, and helps children achieve more at school. The introduction of breakfast clubs for all primary school children is welcome – but this cannot be the limit of the government’s ambitions if it is serious about tackling child poverty and dealing with its consequences. Extending free school meals in England would be a powerful step here. One in five children live in food insecure households, and children in the UK are getting sicker and smaller as a result of poor diet and poverty. The education system has been left to pick up the pieces of Britain’s crumbling public services …

Woman Orders Kids’ Meals 5 Days A Week Because It’s Cheaper Than Buying Groceries

Woman Orders Kids’ Meals 5 Days A Week Because It’s Cheaper Than Buying Groceries

With grocery prices continuing to increase, many people are trying to figure out ways to save money on food. One woman admitted that she uses a rather unusual trick to save herself both money and time when it comes to perusing the aisles of grocery stores to buy food for herself during the week. While not everyone will agree with her methods, it seems to work for her, and may be a good option for many people struggling to keep up with grocery store prices. The woman says she orders kids’ meals five days a week because it’s ‘cheaper than groceries.’ In her video, a woman named Ashley, who doesn’t have children, but describes herself as a “kids’ meal connoisseur” in her TikTok bio, explained that to save herself money she goes to restaurants and orders from their kids’ menus. RELATED: Mom ‘Cracked The Code’ For Freeing Up Time For Herself By Feeding Her Kids Dinner At 3 PM Every Night “A child-free adult is dismantling capitalism by ordering curbside kids’ meals five days a …

‘Preplan your outfits like meals’: a screen stylist’s tips for looking perpetually polished | Australian lifestyle

‘Preplan your outfits like meals’: a screen stylist’s tips for looking perpetually polished | Australian lifestyle

Costume designer and celebrity stylist Ntombi Moyo splits her time between New York and Melbourne and is currently back in Australia as the head costume designer for the SBS series Swift Street. With eight years of experience in film and television under her belt and superstar clients including Beyoncé, Adele and Rihanna, Moyo knows what it takes to put together an outfit and ensure it looks good on screen. Here she shares the professional hacks and styling advice she uses to make sure the talent she works with look and feel polished – including some you can use every day, or for special occasions. A clean start It almost goes without saying: the first step to looking and feeling polished is to make sure your clothes are clean and pressed. “We wash and fabric-mist new and pre-existing garments before they are on any actors,” says Moyo. Follow this up with a good iron or steam. As Forrest Gump said: “You can tell a lot about a person by their shoes.” Moyo recommends cleaning shoes with …

Healthier ready-to-eat meals would have ‘huge’ EU climate benefits – report | Greenhouse gas emissions

Healthier ready-to-eat meals would have ‘huge’ EU climate benefits – report | Greenhouse gas emissions

Healthier ready-to-eat meals could cut EU emissions by 48m tonnes annually and save customers €2.8bn (£2.4bn) each year, as well as reducing disease, a report has found. Fast food and ready meals provide more than a sixth of the EU’s calories but contain far more salt and meat than doctors recommend, according to an analysis from the consultancy Systemiq commissioned by environmental nonprofit organisations Fern and Madre Brava. They found that placing minimum health and sustainability standards on the companies who sell most of them would yield “huge” benefits to society. “Making ready meals healthier and more sustainable is a no-regrets policy,” said Eduardo Montero Mansilla from the Spanish Consumers and Users’ Federation, one of 10 non-governmental organisations that co-authored the report. “We can improve the health of people and the planet at affordable prices.” The report explored the effects of making big food companies comply with diets from the World Health Organization, which aims to avoid malnutrition and non-communicable disease, and the EAT-Lancet Commission, which tries to reduce environmental as well as human harm. …

‘We’re doing it by stealth’: how Tesco is reformulating its much-loved meals to be healthier | Better Baskets

‘We’re doing it by stealth’: how Tesco is reformulating its much-loved meals to be healthier | Better Baskets

How can we improve the health of our nation? That’s the question troubling everyone from politicians and public health experts, to parents and supermarket bosses. But while information about health and nutrition is more widely available than ever, we’re not getting any healthier. Rates of obesity among children are particularly concerning, with a sharp rise during the pandemic – which has dropped slightly, but is still higher than pre-pandemic levels. Now, just under a quarter of children in England are living with obesity by the time they leave primary school, which experts predict will put immense strain on the NHS in the coming decades. We all want our children to be happy and healthy, and our family to eat well, but many of us are struggling with constraints around time and money that lead us to rely heavily on cheap, ultra-processed convenience foods. Tesco, the UK’s largest food retailer, is stepping up to help make the nation’s diet healthier. Aware of the limitations on people’s time and finances, Tesco’s goal is to make healthier eating …

SAF team returns from Gaza airdrop mission after delivering supplies equivalent to over 59,000 meals

SAF team returns from Gaza airdrop mission after delivering supplies equivalent to over 59,000 meals

Singapore has repeatedly called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, as well as the unconditional and immediate release of all civilian hostages from Gaza. During a recent visit to Israel, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan told Israeli leaders that its actions in Gaza have “gone too far”. Israel’s retaliatory strikes in Gaza began after the Oct 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and over 200 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities. On Tuesday, aid organisation World Central Kitchen said an Israeli strike killed seven of its workers in the Gaza Strip. Citizens from Australia, Britain and Poland were among the fatalities. Source link

U.N. observers injured in Lebanon; Gaza to get food for a million meals

U.N. observers injured in Lebanon; Gaza to get food for a million meals

Four members of a United Nations peacekeeping team were injured in a blast in southern Lebanon, near a contentious demarcation line shared with Israel, the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement. “The targeting of peacekeepers is unacceptable,” UNIFIL said, adding that it was “investigating the origin of the explosion.” The Israel Defense Forces denied any involvement. According to UNIFIL, an explosion happened Saturday when three military observers from the U.N. Truce Supervision Organization and an interpreter were conducting “a foot patrol along the Blue Line” near the Lebanese town of Rmeish. They were evacuated for medical care, UNIFIL said. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the military observers were from Australia, Chile and Norway and said they had been “targeted by an Israeli drone.” Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV also said there was “preliminary information” that an Israeli drone was behind the attack, citing its correspondent. Neither provided any evidence for the claim, and The Washington Post could not immediately verify the reports. A 400-ton shipment of aid left Cyprus for Gaza on …