‘I can’t make them eat it’: Teachers and parents share concerns over school lunches in England

Shrinking portions, ‘very beige’ servings and rising costs leave schools and families bewildered

Parents and teachers have shared their own frustration with substandard school meals after a headteacher in Southampton complained about his school’s contract caterers, asking: “How difficult is it to bake a potato?”

Several parents and school staff who got in touch with the Guardian blamed the outsourcing of school catering for what they saw as declining provision. One headteacher in south-west England, who asked not to be named, remembers what lunchtime was like before budget constraints forced her to make the school’s cook redundant: “Children at playtime would go out and smell what was cooking for lunch and get excited. We felt it was making a difference to children’s diets”.