Call for more food funding due to high living cost
Deputy Louise Doublet does not think the cost of living was considered in the ending of a trial.
Key points
- A Jersey politician says cost-of-living pressures were not weighed when the government ended a free fruit trial in primary schools.
- The education minister ended the trial because too little fruit was eaten and much was wasted.
- Fresh fruit will instead be part of a school food programme providing hot meals at government primary schools.
A Jersey politician has called for more investment in healthy food after the government ended a trial that gave free fruit to primary school children. Deputy Louise Doublet said cost-of-living pressures did not appear to have been considered when the decision was made.
Under the pilot, children at four primary schools had been able to take apples, bananas and other fruit since 2024. The education minister ended the trial because not enough children were eating the fruit and it was causing significant wastage.
What the deputy said
Doublet said losing the fruit had been difficult for some families while living costs continue to rise. She said the minister told the States Assembly the scheme had not led to much of an increase in children eating fruit and vegetables, and Doublet said she accepted that.
Doublet added that she did not believe the scheme's cost-of-living benefits had been measured. She said she would personally like to see more money put into healthy food, particularly locally grown food, to help families.
To have that taken away at a time when the cost of living is still increasing I think has been quite hard for some families
— Deputy Louise Doublet
School meals contract
Asked about the contract with UK company Apetito Limited to supply hot school meals across Jersey's government primary schools, Doublet called it the best available option. She said she understood concerns about freshness, but that her understanding was the meals are frozen rather than artificially preserved.
The government announced in September that fresh fruit would be included in the school food programme. Education minister Catherine Curtis previously said the free fruit scheme caused a lot of wastage and that parents asked for fruit to be part of the meals programme. The matter was debated in the States Assembly on 29 September.
