Marcus Rashford blows up an "unacceptable" food package intended to feed a child for a fortnight

Grocery parcels meant to feed school children instead of a £ 30 voucher have sparked disbelief after they were found to cost only £ 5.22 – raising questions about where the money went and an investigation on Downing Street.

Free school meals are worth £ 15.20 per student per week, but a mother showed yesterday that her child's basket can be bought for a third of the price for the fortnight.

It was provided by Chartwells, Compass Group UK & Ireland's educational catering specialist with sales of £ 24.8 billion.

The company, whose managing director is named Charlie Brown, insisted today that it follow government guidelines for all of its packages.

However, she admitted that the basket shown did not meet these criteria and immediately opened her own investigation.

When Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford tried to get free meals to children who need them, replies to the picture, more pictures emerged showing a huge gap in food quality and amount.

Today the government said it was "urgent" to examine claims that the free school lunch packages only contained a few pounds of groceries. Meanwhile, doctors at the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health were writing to the government asking if they were nutritious enough for children.

Unlike the initial lockdown, schools receive a grant from the government that they can spend to get coupons for students or use a contractor to deliver packages.

This time the government has asked schools to sort packages for the students to ensure a balanced diet.

Up until that week, suppliers were working at a cost of £ 2.34 per day per student, but on Friday the government increased that by £ 3.50 per week.

The Manchester United and England footballer (pictured in a grocery bank with his mother Melanie last year) responded to an outraged mother who popped a 10-day basket

This grocery package was supposed to feed a child for a week, but the suppliers forgot to add bread

There are big differences in the quality of the grocery packages sent to students during the lockdown

This is part of two boxes sent every week to feed two students during the pandemic restrictions

This sad looking vegetable is part of one of the grocery packages sent to closed school students

This image posted online showed a basket that could be bought from a company for £ 30

Rashford shared a post from a mom – @RoadsideMum – who posted a picture of a basket of bread, cheese, two carrots, and a can of baked beans.

She wrote: & # 39; Issued £ 30 vouchers instead. I could do more with 30 pounds to be honest. The private company that has the #FSM contract made good profits here. & # 39;

Rashford commented, “Where is this being introduced? If families are entitled to £ 30 worth of groceries, why is the delivery just over £ 5 ?!

This Woodside Primary Academy student's grocery package should last a week

Some boxes received praise from parents. St. Dunstans School in Glastonbury received top marks for the first day, including sandwiches and wraps from Real Wrap Co.

& # 39; 1 child or 3, what do you get? Unacceptable. & # 39;

Alongside another picture of a small grocery package, he said, "3 days of food for a family … just not good enough."

The 23-year-old continued, “Then imagine that we expect the children to study from home.

"Not to mention the parents who sometimes have to teach them that they probably haven't eaten anything so their kids … We HAVE to do better. That is 2021. & # 39;

In the late morning he added: “The appreciation of the FSM Hampers has not yet come into play.

“We have so many independent companies that have struggled through 2020. Why can't we mobilize them to help distribute food packaging? Or am I naive? & # 39;

Sir Keir wrote: “The pictures appearing online of totally inadequate free school lunch packages are a shame.

& # 39; Where is the money going? This needs to be sorted out immediately so that families do not starve from lockdown. & # 39;

The Department of Education said it would investigate claims that free school meals are not providing enough food.

It was posted on Twitter: & # 39; We're looking into this. We have clear guidelines and standards for grocery packages that we are expected to adhere to. Packages should be nutritious and contain a diverse range of foods. & # 39;

Children Minister Vicky Ford said: "I will take care of this urgently – food packages should cover all lunches and be nutritious – we have increased funding for packages and will support local vouchers – national vouchers will also be introduced as soon as possible, day and night. Hope your kids are ok @roadsidemum. & # 39;

She added: One of the reasons some schools have used grocery packages instead of vouchers is because it helps them keep in touch with families.

“Unfortunately, the risk for some children increased during the pandemic. Call @NSPCC if you are concerned about a child. & # 39;

Skint Dad's Naomi Willis commented, “While some grocery packages appear to be of good quality, there is a distinct lack of consistency compared to the previous coupon scheme.

“The food parcels provided to parents in the current lockdown should be able to feed a child for a week, but what we've seen from members of the Skint Dad community is far from and clearly not good enough.

“This increases the pressure on parents who have problems and leaves children caught in the middle in the lurch.

"The system needs to be checked immediately to make sure all children are being adequately fed or the previous voucher program will be reintroduced today."

Parents said the meals were distributed to children studying from home by a private contractor.

According to government guidelines for the free school lunch program, institutions can apply for an additional £ 3.50 per student on top of what they receive.

It reads: "We strongly encourage schools to work with their school catering team or grocery suppliers to provide grocery packages to eligible students who are at home."

It adds, "Where school kitchens are open, this should be the schools approach."

Chartwells said this morning, “We take our responsibility to provide children with access to nutritious foods very seriously.

“We have worked hard to produce food baskets at incredibly short notice in these challenging times.

& # 39; Our barriers follow DofE specs and contain a variety of ingredients to help families provide meals during the week.

& # 39; We have received positive feedback in most cases.

"In this case, the picture on Twitter does not meet our reservation specification and we are very interested in contacting the relevant school so that we can resolve any operational problems that may arise."