Yahoo News Food for school children at risk of running out after Brexit, councils warned
Councils have been urged to pile pressure on the Government over claims that there will be food shortages in schools after Brexit.
The Food Research Collaboration (FRC) claim that uncertainty over how and when Britain leaves the EU has led to concerns about supplies after the Brexit date.
They have warned that groups including school pupils, the elderly and people in social care could suffer more as a result of food shortages and stockpiling in the event of a no-deal exit.
The FRC published their briefing following earlier guidance on how to prepare for Brexit.
They wrote: “Six months on, we still have little clarity on how or when the UK will leave the European Union.
“However, it remains the case that under any circumstances, withdrawal from the EU will have major impacts on the UK’s food systems and food consumers.
“And as we identified last year, Local Authorities, which have executive responsibilities in relation to food and which are also repositories of expertise on local food systems, will be in the front line in coping with whatever challenges arise.”
They added: “If anything, this seems more likely, given the lack of evidence of coherent planning at national level.”
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The Government have previously told schools that they should be more “flexible” in what dinners they serve children in England if there are food shortages because of Brexit.
In a no-deal technical notice, the Government said it has been “working to plan arrangements that ensure goods can continue to flow into the UK without significant delays” but it “could not control what happened on the other side of the EU border”.
However, the Department for Education said it was “confident that schools will continue to be able to provide pupils with nutritious school meals no matter the outcome of Brexit”.
