Families would be more likely to switch to healthy school meals this month if schools run price promotions on their menus, according to a new survey.
Almost six out of ten parents (58%) whose children didn’t already have school meals said they would be prepared to try them this term if meals were on offer at a reduced price, in a poll for the School Food Trust.
New powers proposed in the Education Bill are set to make it easier for schools to offer reduced prices, which could be used to help families on low incomes who don’t qualify for free school meals, or families with more than one child at school. The Trust says that supporting schools to use variable pricing could be key to boosting take up of healthy school food.
Director of Research and Nutrition, Michael Nelson, said: “Price is one of the biggest considerations for families wanting to make sure their child has a healthy meal at lunchtime. If you’re on a tight budget or you’ve got more than one child at school, the costs add up whether you opt for a school lunch or a packed lunch, and especially if you give your child money to buy snacks at the shops.
“But when children eat more healthily at lunchtime, they feel full and do better in their afternoon lessons. Research shows that the average school meal is consistently more nutritious than the average packed lunch, so if we want children to reach their potential it just makes sense to help schools use pricing to encourage more families to opt for school meals.”
At the moment, schools are not allowed to charge different prices for the same meal to different groups of children, and must apply to the Department for Education for permission if they wish to use variable pricing.
Plans in the Education Bill would see this requirement removed – as long as schools don’t charge more than the cost of producing the meal. Under the present regulations, schools can still choose to reduce the price for all pupils.
The poll of 1000 parents, in the Parent Voice Omnibus Survey by the National Foundation for Educational Research, also found that just under half of parents (47%) believed that school meals should be free for all pupils and that only 8% of parents would be prepared to pay £2.50 or more for a healthy, two-course school meal.
It follows research by Which? magazine highlighting an average rise of 3% in school meal prices this year – the same as that reported in the School Food Trust/LACA Annual Survey of School Lunch Take Up, which was published in July, and far below wider food inflation rates.
Data:
58% of parents in the survey whose children didn’t already have a school lunch said they would be willing to sign up to try school meals in September 2011, if meals were offered at a reduced price. This was independent of the cost of a school meal in their child’s school, or the maximum they said they were willing to pay.
Table M12
Would you be willing to sign up your child to try school meals in September if these were on offer at a reduced price? %
Yes 58
No 42
N = 292
Due to rounding, percentages may not sum to 100.
A filter question: all those whose children do not have any school meals as indicated in M3b.
Source: NFER Parent Omnibus Survey June 2011.
