Posted on by HSIN PAI
(Photo Credit: Yijia Wu)

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has urged the government to provide free school meals to all primary school children and help those struggling with the ever-rising cost of living. 

One in four households with children has experienced food insecurity in the past month affecting approximately 4 million children in the UK, according to a survey conducted by The Food Foundation. 

Khan said: “The spiralling cost of living is hitting Londoners very hard and without urgent action from the Government millions of people will be wondering how they will cope this winter.” 

Former education secretary, Michael Gove, who introduced universal infant free school meals, has supported the extension of free school meals, saying: “If our country is to succeed we need to make sure we have a healthy population. It’s not fair to expect a teenager or someone younger to fend for themselves.”

The cost of living crisis has become one of the factors that causes food insecurity. The data released by the Greater London Authority indicates that 86 per cent of Londoners who are experiencing financial hardship think they will struggle to afford their regular household shop in the next six months. 

Founder of London’s Community Kitchen, Taz Khan MBE, said: “We are seeing more and more Londoners struggling due to the cost of living, this is creating extreme levels of financial hardship to families across London. Food banks are not the answer and should not be left to pick up the pieces on the back of failed policies..”

To help those in need, food charities, communities and companies are providing food or funds.

Budget supermarket chain Aldi has announced emergency London food bank support. Their Emergency Winter Foodbank Fund will provide £250,000 to help organisations facing higher demands for their services. 

Corporate Responsibility Director at Aldi UK, Liz Fox, said: “We know this Christmas is already a particularly challenging time for many, but this year is understandably going to be tougher for a lot of households.” 

People are also finding methods to deal with the problem of inflation and high living expenses. 

‘Too good to go’ is an app aimed at reducing food waste. It creates a system that allows food surplus from restaurants, hotels, supermarkets or bakeries to be sold at a lower price.  

An international student currently studying in London, Kiki Chang, has used this app several times.  

Her main reason for using the app is to save money, “food is quite expensive in London”, she said. Whenever she wants to dine out, she first looks up the app to search for restaurants.  

She said, “sometimes using the app to order from restaurants like Wasabi or Pret can really save a lot of money”.