Marcus Rashford is uniting large food brands together in a fight against child poverty.
The Manchester United star is the catalyst that has sparked a movement within the food industry. Rashford is championing this move to reduce the amount of child poverty in the UK, with his passion for the cause stemming from his childhood experiences as a user of free school meals. Previously, the England international forced the government to extend the free school meal program.
Marcus Rashford Continues to Help Tackle Child Poverty
‘Confident’ It Could Help Change Lives
The task group contains Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Deliveroo, FareShare, Food Foundation, Iceland, Kellogg’s, Lidl, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose. These businesses will work alongside the National Food Strategy to help fight the problem of child poverty.
Worryingly, the use of food banks is on the rise. However, with the help of the newly formed group, this could be reduced. This is due in no small part to the coronavirus that has impacted many jobs across the world.
This newly formed alliance will hopefully be the start of a long-term solution to child poverty in the UK. Nevertheless, it requires government funding and has highlighted three stratagems.
Backing Three Key Strategies
According to the BBC, the group behind the initiative are backing three key strategies:
- Expanding free school meals to every child from a household on Universal Credit or equivalent, reaching an additional 1.5m children aged seven to 16
- Expanding holiday food and activities to support all children on free school meals, reaching an additional 1.1m children
- Increasing the value of the Healthy Start vouchers from £3.10 to £4.25 per week and expanding it to all those on Universal Credit or equivalent, reaching an additional 290,000 children under the age of four and pregnant women.
Moreover, Marcus Rashford wants to change the stigma around asking for help. Speaking to the BBC, the United forward said: “I feel like at times people think they are being looked down on if they ask for help … that is something that should change”.
You can help support food banks by visiting the Trussell Trust website, and by donating to your local food bank.
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