Following in the footsteps of Marcus Rashford and Jamie Oliver, Zayn Malik is the latest celebrity to advocate for free school lunches for low-income families. In an open letter, the former member of One Direction describes his own experiences with “food insecurity stigma.”
During the cost of living crisis, Zayn Malik has urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to do “the right thing” and provide free school lunches to all students living in poverty.
In an open letter to Mr. Sunak, the former member of One Direction stated that “no parent should be forced to face hard decisions such as whether to buy food, turn on the warmth, or go into debt” while food, housing, and energy costs continue to rise.
As a child in Bradford, West Yorkshire, Malik, now 29 years old, relied on free school lunches. Now that he is a father, he supports the Feed The Future Campaign, which urges the government to offer free school lunches for all children from universal credit families.
Following England footballer Marcus Rashford and famous chef Jamie Oliver, he is the latest celebrity to endorse expanding access to free school lunches.
According to the Food Foundation, one of the campaign’s major organizations, an estimated 800,000 children in England are now living in poverty and do not qualify.
Malik adds in his letter, “These students are suffering from a lack of concentration, with some resorting to stealing food from school canteens because they are so hungry and cannot afford lunch.”
Their feelings of humiliation have a direct effect on their physical and mental health. As a child growing up in Bradford who relied on free school meals, I am intimately familiar with this sense of disgrace. I have personally encountered the stigma associated with food insecurity.
“I hope that by writing this letter, we can together ensure that no kid ever again has to endure starvation and stigma, as my situation is not unique; it is a challenge that many children in England are currently facing.”
Malik, a newly appointed Food Foundation ambassador, urges the prime minister to utilize his November budget to expand universal credit eligibility to include young people from families.
The celebrity asserts that many parents are “already doing everything they can” and that government assistance is “urgently required.”
You can alter this
After his letter, Malik addresses Mr. Sunak, stating, “As prime minister, you have the authority to reverse this.”
“Please act in good conscience and pledge in your budget on November 17 to provide free school meals to all children living in poverty.
Hunger among children is not inevitable and should not be reduced to a political or ideological issue.
Anna Taylor, the executive director of the Food Foundation, is “thrilled” to be working with Malik.
She stated, “His childhood traumas will resonate with many young people in Britain whose voices go ignored.”
After departing One Direction in 2015, Malik launched his solo career a year before the boy band announced an indefinite hiatus.
He has a two-year-old daughter named Khai with his ex-girlfriend, the American model Gigi Hadid.
As part of the campaign, he urges British citizens to write to their MPs over the matter.
In response to his letter, a government official stated, “We have increased access to free school meals more than any other government in the past three decades. Currently, they are available to 1.9 million children.”
“We are also investing up to £24 million in our National School Breakfast Programme, which delivers free breakfasts to children at schools in low-income communities.
In addition to the benefits of the Energy Price Guarantee, eight million of the most disadvantaged households will get at least £1,200 in cost-of-living support this year, making them eligible for support that exceeds the average increase in energy costs by hundreds of pounds.
