LACA’s 2024 Great School Lunch event at the House of Commons highlighted the cost-of-living crisis hitting vulnerable families.

Anita Brown, chair of LACA, commented in Public Sector Catering online: “There are 800,000 children living in poverty whose parents are not entitled for free school meals, but they just can’t afford to pay for one. Our purpose of having a Great School Lunch is so important and it’s crucial that we get the right funding to offer the right healthy meal that meets the school food standards.” (https://www.publicsectorcatering.co.uk/news/lacas-great-school-lunch-event-emphasises-need-fairer-school-meals-funding)

“The funding that we do get we will be asking for it to be ring-fenced, so the funding follows the children. Quite often the full amount doesn’t get passed onto the caterer. The cost-of-living crisis has had a huge impact on vulnerable families therefore the provision of a healthy school lunch is vitally important. It has never been as important as it is now. Everyone knows that hungry children do not educate.”

“BGL was happy to have supplied equipment for this LACA event – the menu looked fantastic and was served at just the right temperature in the Thermoports!

“Rieber Thermoport is key to the future of catering in UK schools because of the urgent need to transport meals,” said BGL Rieber Joint MD Jon Walker.

“The advantage of food transportation is that it allows schools and local authorities to choose from a range of local providers and find best value.

“Transported meals can be served hot, but we must pack the insulated boxes in the right way. There are ‘best value’ producers out there – in larger schools and CPUs – Rieber Thermoport means schools can access that value and serve quality food to their pupils at the right temperature!

“At BGL Rieber we offer free expert advice ensuring you select the best equipment for the job and train you how best to use it.”

According to a LACA survey, 91% of respondents are experiencing food shortages, with over 60% saying that this has not changed since May 2022. Food prices have risen 30% since May, with some LACA members experiencing 50% price increases.

For some children, lunch is the only hot meal they will eat in a day. LACA believes the 2.9% funding increase for UIFSM is ‘inadequate and insufficient’. More information here: https://www.laca.co.uk/news/laca-host-great-school-lunch-event-house-commons

Equipment Supplied:

• 2 x 1000K Thermoports
• 1 x 600K Thermoport
• 2 x Thermoport 50 boxes
• A heavy duty KF/2 Transport Trolley and some accessories, including grid shelves and cooling pellets.