It has been organised by Professor Don Bundy, who is director of the SMC’s Research Consortium for School Health & Nutrition.
He said: “Throughout this year, in conversations with academics, practitioners, and school meals leaders across the devolved nations, we have found consistently strong support for UK membership of the SMC – indeed, we have yet to encounter a dissenting view.
“The SMC leadership itself is keen to welcome the UK. This raises an important question: what is the barrier? Our sense is that the remaining gap is one of collective leadership – mobilising voices across the UK to articulate a shared position and define a coordinated approach to potential membership.”
He said the initial discussion among the various governments, organisations, and school meals stakeholders could help determine what a coordinated and effective approach might look like.
He believed this could facilitate further discussion with Government representatives, and members from across the devolved nations.
The benefits of school meals programmes was demonstrated following the 2008 financial crisis, when they became one of the most extensive social safety nets in the world, according to Professor Bundy.
He added: “The counterfactual evidence presented during Covid-19 further highlighted their fundamental role in children’s wellbeing. In response, an extraordinary Government-led coalition of like-minded countries was launched in October 2021.
“Today, the School Meals Coalition includes 112 member states. Given that nearly all of the UK's close allies are members, it is surprising that the UK did not join at inception and has not joined since.
“There is much the world could gain from the UK’s academic and professional expertise in this field. Equally, UK researchers, practitioners, and caterers stand to benefit from deeper access to global learning and collaboration across a sector that feeds 466m children daily and represents an annual investment of more than US$84bn.”
For more information about the SMC visit: https://schoolmealscoalition.org/