Midcounties Co-op to provide children with meal boxes over school holidays

The Midcounties Co-operative said it has joined forces with three local councils to help feed more than 7,000 children over the summer holidays as part of its mission to tackle food poverty.

The retailer will provide meal boxes to feed a family of four for up to four nights, and deliver them to selected homes, holiday clubs and local on a weekly basis, working in partnership with Dudley CVS and Dudley MBC, Walsall Council and Shropshire Council.

The meals have been designed in partnership with qualified nutritionist and in-store chef Judy Cheyne, who has also developed recipe cards and videos that the children can follow at home.

“Food justice is a real issue and we’re extremely passionate about driving change to ensure that no one is left behind. In the current climate, it’s all too easy for families experiencing financial difficulties to fall into food poverty, and we’re committed to being a leading part of a movement to stop that,” Phil Ponsonby, group CEO at Midcounties Co-op, said.

This latest initiative follows a series of commitments from the regional co-operative to help deliver food justice, including launching a food bank fund that raised more than £50,000 during the Covid-19 crisis, joining forces with other co-operatives to campaign for food justice, becoming a member of Marcus Rashford’s Child Food Poverty Taskforce, and continuing to provide essential support to food banks across its communities.