Furious parents blast claims by Welsh Labour that children are turning down ... trends now
Parents have hit out Labour claims children are turning down free school dinners because they prefer processed foods - and say they want to offer more choice.
All primary school pupils in Wales are to offer free school meals under a new scheme brought in by the Welsh Government.
However the Labour-run Monmouthshire County Council says almost a quarter of children are not accepting a free meal under the new scheme - and that many prefer processed foods.
Other reasons given for children turning their noses up are portion sizes and a lack of choice for pupils.
Leah Campbell, 25, says she chooses for her son, Noah Bushell, six, to have free school meals as he really enjoys them and also gets more variety into his diet. Leah pictured with her daughter Ayla Cocks
Grandmother Melanie Vaughn, 66, from Cardiff, has three grandchildren aged 10, seven and six in primary school
Cardiff is among the local authorities which have partly started the scheme by offering pupils from reception to year 4 free school meals.
And parents at Lansdowne Primary School in Canton, Cardiff, say they chose to give their children packed lunches to offer more variety in their diet - not because their children eat processed food at home.
Dina Varsani, 37, has one five-year-old daughter in the 454-pupil primary school who is entitled to free school meals.
She said: 'She chooses not to because either there isn't enough of a meal and she's quite hungry afterwards or the options, as we're vegetarian, are not that great. It's not something we would offer at home - so she's never been exposed to it.
Rebecca Warren, 39, a cook at the school, has two children, aged eight and 10, who only have school meals
Dina Varsani, 37, has one five-year-old daughter in the 454-pupil primary school who is entitled to free school meals
'The days that she did used to have it, it was like little pizzas and little mini bread rolls and she wasn't really keen - so we tried. We've sort of cycled out of it - and now she has packed lunches.
'Also, kids are complicated. They don't like saucy food and stuff, they don't like it together - so serving her a Quorn curry with everything mixed together is not ideal for her. She would eat it if it was all separated.
'It's things like that which is more of an issue, rather than ultra-processed food at home. It would probably be more variety, ethnicity and cultural and that sort of stuff, rather than frozen food and stuff like that.'
The Welsh Government rules mean all children should be given the same portion size of food - regardless of whether they are four or 11 years old.
But Dina found that a packed lunch was far more filling and offered her daughter more of an option - as they needed to bring food with them for her to have a snack when she was picked up at the end of the day.
Monmouthshire council officer Debra Hill-Howells also said the Welsh government's rules on same size portions was also contributing to food waste.
'It is a frustration for us and frustrates the older learners who are not getting enough and it is too much for some of the younger ones.'
Grandmother
