Free school meals for all children!
To the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of the European Union
Petition
We urge you to enforce healthy school meals and food education for every child in every EU school, as the minimum standard for the EU’s vision on healthy food and for the enforcement of the European Child Guarantee. Every child has the right to a balanced diet for a healthy development and to be able to concentrate in class. Healthy school meals are beneficial for both people and planet. Paired with food education, school children can learn to eat and cook healthily - while using food responsibly.
Why is this important?
Can you imagine what it’s like for a young child going hungry at school?
The shame that you can’t afford lunch at the canteen like your friends. Your stomach rumbles so much you can’t listen to the teacher. And you don’t even know the long-term damage it’s doing.
It’s heartbreaking, but it’s about to be daily life for so many kids going back to school. A quarter of children in the EU are at risk of poverty, and families just can’t pay for school meals. [1]
But there’s a solution: some European countries give free school meals to all children. [1] No one starves at school, and every child learns about healthy, balanced diets.
Right now, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is developing a new ‘vision for food’ in Europe. [2] If we act now, we can get free school meals included.