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Even The Tatties Have Batter - Foreword & Introduction |
Foreword
Critics of our bill to provide free nutritious meals to every pupil in Scotland's schools argue that it will do nothing to end inequality, will subsidise free meals for the better off and will cost more than the Scottish Parliament can afford. They accuse us of proposing a measure that is unimaginative. They claim that it will be ineffective in tackling the curse of child poverty and class inequality that continues to bedevil Scotland at the beginning of the 21st century.
This book provides a comprehensive rebuttal of their criticisms and a passionate argument for a Scotland that is beyond the critics' ken. Providing a nutritious meal in the middle of the day for each pupil in attendance at state schools "free of charge" is in reality a modest progressive measure. It will not break the back of Scotland's tax system. Nor will it waste scarce resources on the undeserving. But it will signal a significant if small step towards a different kind of society in which the welfare of the people, and especially of our young people, is placed at the head of our priorities before anything else. Before making up your mind about the private member's bill we are introducing, we urge you to read this pamphlet.
In its pages you will find the arguments and the reasoning that makes the case for universal free school meals unanswerable. The necessity of rebuilding a school meals service that has been ravaged by decades of means-testing and competitive tendering. The health benefits of tackling the dietary gap that has opened up between deprived and more affluent communities. The obligation on all of us to end the stigma associated with the right to a free and nutritious diet. The urgency of challenging those who misrepresent means testing as the friend of the poor.
If the Scottish Parliament is really serious about trying to eliminate child poverty and tackle health inequalities among our children, then it surely must recognise that universally free school meals is central to those aims. The Parliament was fought for by generations of Scots in the hope that they might see progressive measures such as this enacted for the benefit of the whole nation. Here is a clear opportunity to begin to realise the hopes and aspirations of generations of Scots for Scotland's Parliament.
Of course, this measure will go against the current orthodoxy of squeezing the public sector for the benefit of a burgeoning private sector. It will undoubtedly outrage those who worship at the altar of free markets and private accumulation of profit. It will be given a rough ride by the mouthpieces of privilege and power among our press and media. These are yet more reasons why our bill should receive the support of ordinary Scots everywhere.
Our bill already has the support of a wide range of community and anti-poverty campaigns. From CPAG through members of the Scottish Churches Social Inclusion Network to the STUC Women's Committee and UNISON, Scotland is rallying in support of the bill. When you finish this book, we are confident that you too will throw the weight of your support behind the bill. We unreservedly commend it to you.
John McAllion MSP
Alex Neil MSP
Tommy Sheridan MSP
Danny Phillips
The political landscape of Scotland has changed with devolution. "Poverty" has now been put back on the social agenda. We may argue about what it is, how it should be measured and what policies we should adopt to defeat it - but we now agree that poverty exists in Scotland, it is a bad thing and government has the power to make policy to end it.
Food Poverty is the result of complex reasons. They include lack of income, access (or lack of it) to decent food, higher cost of food for poor people, out of town supermarkets and fewer local shops, diminishing cooking skills, nutritional education, socialization in families and information. It is no coincidence that we have the highest rates of child poverty, the worst diet and the highest rates of diet related illnesses in Europe.
School meals have the potential to make a difference. It is a major way we as a community can ensure a healthy diet for Scotland's children. We do not argue in this book that school meals are a panacea to all our dietary problems in Scotland; that somehow all we need to do is give children plates of healthy food and dietary related illness will disappear or even that all we need to do is provide a plate of food and kids will eat it! But we do argue it is a vital policy tool which - if carefully considered, implemented as part of an anti poverty and healthy eating strategy and given the full resources it requires - can make a real difference.
CPAG have been campaigning since the 1970's to raise awareness of the role school meals should play in an anti-poverty policy. In Scotland today we have the School Meals (Scotland) Bill, to be voted on in the Scottish Parliament by 10 May 2002, which would give all children in Scotland the right to a free healthy meal at school. This surely, at very least, needs to be debated seriously and carefully.
This book aims to assist that debate. In broad terms we have tried to give an overview of our school meals service, put the case for nutritional standards and universal provision, explain our bill and the parliamentary process and put the case from anti-poverty campaigners and the trade union movement. The book also reflects our campaign broad base support by including opinion from a range of people: academics, dieticians, politicians, lawyers, and representatives of local authorities, unions and anti-poverty groups.
I should point out that the views expressed in each chapter are the views of the authors and not necessarily the views of CPAG or of the authors as a whole.
Tim Marsh, who was also an author ofCPAGs publication on school meals "Filling the Gap", starts with an overview of the school meals service in the UK: our dietary related ill heath, the undermining of the service, present initiatives and the Scottish school meals service. Felicity Garvie wrote to all local authorities in Scotland asking set questions about the bill and their school meals service. John Mulvey and Marjorie Shepherd collated the replies and this has been incorporated into Tim's work.
We believe for school meals to be effective we must set nutritional standards in law. Professor AS Anderson and Dr Wendy Wreiden have produced a chapter on nutritional dimensions of school meals. We have included a shortened version of a paper they produced for us. If you are interested in reading the full version - which we urge you to do - then it is available on www.cpag.org.uk. Professor Anderson and Dr Wrieden have both been invited by the executive to be part of their "expert panel" to consider school meals.
CPAG does not believe that there is no place for means-testing in our welfare state; it simply believes that we must consider each service and consider the best policy. Usha Brown and myself have tried to explain why we believe free meals to all children is the best way to promote social inclusion. While recent social security policy has moved towards means testing that is not true of our wider welfare state, which has seen many more recent universal initiatives.
Mike Dailly has given us a clear description of the bill itself its aims and how it hopes to achieve them through the parliamentary process. We in the school meals working group debated the broad policy terms and Mike had the unenviable job of putting that into an actual bill ready to be presented to parliament. It is to his credit that he has helped us get this far.
Kait Laughlin, with Mary Harkins and Louisa Graham who all work for West Glasgow Against Poverty, have contributed an article explaining why an anti poverty group would support a bill that gives "rich kids free meals too". It is a powerful chapter not simply because of the arguments made and personal experiences described, but also because they have carried out research into the attitudes of 51 local children. This local survey, carried out by parents, makes positive reading and encourages us to rethink the beliefs we have about children's negative attitudes to healthy food.
Finally we have powerful endorsement from the Scottish trade union movement. Agnes Tolmie puts the case from STUC women's committee. The support we have received from the unions has been tremendous. They have collected almost 10,000 signatures and UNISON donated money to help us pay for this book. I hope they are pleased with the results.
I cannot finish without mentioning the cartoons. Armon Williams from Dundee Anti Poverty Forum invented our character "School Meals Bill". His drawings while being funny also make powerful political points that have taken the rest of us thousands of words to deliver.
The arguments for free nutritious school meals are laid out in this book. It is our hope they will be fully considered by policy makers. We also hope they encourage you to join our campaign. For further information please see our website for regular updates: www.cpag.org.uk/scotland
Lastly, we urge you take part in our campaign. You can:
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