Pupils’ complaints over poor school meals sparks pledge of Fife-wide review

Cowdenbeath councillors were told on Wednesday by the quartet from Beath High School that Fife’s school meals are “not good enough.”

Sixth year students Ines Shearer, Hannah Malone, Aimee Anwender, and Emily Inglis claimed that pupils are often being overcharged; that the price of food does not match the amount being served; pupils are being left unfed after the cafeteria runs out of food; and that school lunches are only providing between 50 and 250 calories.

“On behalf of the school, we feel that something has to change because the pricing, quality, quantity and lack of advertisement is simply not good enough,” Ms Shearer told the committee.

She emphasised that the concerns go beyond the four walls of Beath High – they have has spoken to other students across Fife and they are all experiencing the same issues.

“As school pupils, we need energy to learn and looking at the nutritional value of the food we’re being served, it's not filling,” Ms Malone stated. “Many sources say a healthy lunch should range from 500-700 calories. Our school lunches range from 50-250 calories. It’s equivalent to a snack, not a main meal.”

Ms Inglis additionally accused Fife Council of increasing the portion sizes for a limited time following a student survey published last year, but they have since been decreased back to the original size.

Another issue is around pricing. Ms Anwender explained that the cost of individual items has seen multiple increases in recent years. A main meal on its own costs £1.70 and a two course meal deal is available, in theory, for £2.40.

However, she explained that there is a complete lack of awareness or advertising for this meal deal and claimed that students are regularly overcharged for their food.

“We are aware there’s a two course meal deal available but we feel there’s a lack of awareness of this option. This causes pupils to be often overcharged when they try to make use of this promotion,” she said.

Meanwhile, the students claimed that school meal deals in Perth and Kinross are priced at £2 and include more options and variety. Yet another issue is that pupils are supposedly being left unfed after the cafeteria runs out of food by the middle of lunch. “We feel that no child should be left unfed,” Ms Anwender said.

Fife Council operates a pre-ordering system where pupils can select their food choices and it guarantees that their preferred food will be available.

However, the pupils claimed that the system is not only poorly advertised, but that it should not be necessary to pre-order food in order to have a meal.

They also told councillors that food items advertised on the Fife Council website are not being provided in school cafeterias.

“Quite frankly I think Fife Council should be absolutely embarrassed by what’s going on here,” Councillor Darren Watt (Conservative for Cowdenbeath) said.

“This is a longstanding issue that’s been on the agenda for far too long and it’s clearly not been addressed if you guys have had to come here.”

Councillor Bailey-Lee Robb (SNP for Cowdenbeath) added: “[These students] are not asking for the world - they’re not asking for cheeseburgers from McDonald’s or a carvery from Toby’s Carvery, or pizza from PizzaHut. They just want a decent meal at lunchtime. They want to go to the canteen, pay for what’s meant to be on offer, have food that’s going to fill them up, and go back to learning. This shouldn’t be a contentious issue.”

Area councillors unanimously agreed to undertake a Fife wide review of school meals - with a particular focus on student engagement and consultation.

The report will go to the Fife education scrutiny committee for review.

“We need to be giving staff the tools to deliver nutritious and good tasting meals. The only way to go with this is a Fife-wide review,” councillor Linda Erskine (Labour for Lochgelly, Cardenden and Benarty) said.

Tariq Ditta, head of Fife’s facilities management service, addressed the student’s concerns as part of his school meal provision report, which immediately followed the student presentation. He highlighted that the council only has limited control over portion sizes, ingredients and flavour of school meals. Those things, and more, are tightly regulated by the Scottish Government. However, he said that he and his team would take the student concerns on board as much as possible.

Mr Ditta, the area hospitality coordinator and Beath High’s kitchen supervisor will also be meeting with the student group to discuss their concerns and come up with ideas for improvements. The students also have plans to meet with the Scottish Government to discuss their concerns.