Professor Morgan has raised concerns about the quality of meals provided in Welsh schools under the Future Generations Act, a landmark piece of legislation created nearly a decade ago. The Act places a legal responsibility on public bodies to consider the needs of future generations, and Wales has gained recognition as the first and only UK nation to implement free school meals in all primary schools. However, Prof Morgan emphasizes the need to improve the nutritional quality of these meals.
Prof Morgan, who has authored a book exploring food quality in schools, hospitals, and prisons, described the Future Generations Act as "wonderful and laudable." Despite this, he noted a significant "gap between aspiration and delivery." His advocacy highlights the necessity for meals that are healthier, more cost-effective, and climate-friendly.
"Free school meals… is the best example of a tangible expression of the Future Generations Act," Prof Morgan stated, yet he stressed that there is still much work to be done to elevate meal standards in schools.
The Welsh government is responding by updating and improving healthy eating regulations, aiming to provide the best school food offer in the UK. Their goal is to ensure that children receive the healthiest start to life through nutritious meals.
"We want the best school food offer in the UK to give our children the healthiest start to life. Our roll out of free school meals for all primary school learners means every child is offered a nutritious meal," stated the Welsh government.
Despite these efforts, Prof Morgan expressed concern about sourcing local food for school meals, pointing out that Wales is far from achieving full local sourcing due to an under-developed horticulture sector.
"If we wanted to source entirely local food in schools tomorrow, it couldn't be done, not least because our horticulture sector in Wales is so under-developed," said Prof Morgan.
He further explained the importance of leveraging procurement budgets to build up local food supply chains, a crucial step in realizing the aspirations of the Future Generations Act.
"You need to use that power of purchase, procurement budgets, to build up that source of supply," Prof Morgan added.
