LAST UPDATE | 13 hrs ago

TEACHERS AND HEALTH experts have been loud in their criticisms of the quality, origins of the ingredients and waste produced by the hot school meals programme, as well as the plastic packaging of food served to children as part of the initiative.

As of September 2024, almost 2,200 schools are availing of hot school meals – the equivalent of around 345,000 primary school children while the government has signalled its intent to further expand the programme.

There are a couple of key questions here. What is the evidence for children benefitting from free school meals? What are the best school lunches around the world and how does Ireland compare? Why is plastic packaging used at all?

Top of the list is the overwhelming evidence for the benefits of school lunches. In Ireland, we know that a healthy diet is out of reach for many families with inadequate disposable incomes — with food costs rising further as children enter secondary school. Research published on the cost of a healthy food basket by Safefood (2023) found that, overall, low-income households need to spend up to a third (35%) of their net income to afford a minimum healthy food basket.

Food costs make up the largest component of a household’s budget for families with children, and the rise in inflation over the course of the last year or two has only exacerbated this. One of the primary means used to tackle children’s experience of food poverty is the provision of school meals.

Data from the Central Statistics Office (2024) from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) showed that in 2023, more than one in five (21.4%) of children were living in deprivation – in one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

Food indicators included in this include being able to afford a roast once a week or being able to afford a meal with meat or vegetables every second day, along with measures related to the social aspects of food such as having friends or family over for a meal.

There is a mountain of evidence showing that introducing universal free meals improves student performance across a range of academic and behavioural outcomes. Extensive research by social scientists and nutritionists concludes that this universal provision improves attendance,........

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