MARCUS Rashford fumed “it’s not good enough” as he shared a small food parcel sent to a family meant to last for ten days.
The Manchester United striker has long campaigned for free school meals to be dished out to vulnerable children during the coronavirus crisis.
Three Lions hero Rashford forced a Government U-turn over vouchers in the summer holidays and was recently awarded an MBE.
Rashford has raised £20million for FareShare and has helped out in Manchester foodbanks with his mum Melanie.
He has previously told how the single mum relied on free meals and did 14-hour shifts to feed him and his four siblings growing up.
And the footballer is continuing to ensure those that need free school meals will be given the necessary food until at least February half term.
Those eligible for free school meals are entitled to £30 food vouchers, though some parents have stated they have received food bundles instead that cost a fraction of the price.
One mum took to Twitter to share her experience, claiming instead of £30 worth of food, she only got a bundle worth £5.22 to last for ten days.
She posted a photo showing bread, cheese, potatoes and beans, among other items, adding: “Issued instead of £30 vouchers.
“I could do more with £30 to be honest.”
‘UNACCEPTABLE’
Rashford immediately replied to her tweet, asking: “Where is this being rolled out?
“If families are entitled to £30 worth of food, why is there delivery only equating to just over £5?! 1 child or 3, this what they are receiving? Unacceptable.”
He followed this up by tweeting: “Children deserve better than this…”
Both the Department of Health and the Department of Education said they were looking into it, after claims of other small deliveries were made.
Rashford then posted a picture of another family’s small food bundle that was meant to last for three days.
Captioning the image, he remarked: “3 days of food for 1 family… Just not good enough.”
He added: “Then imagine we expect the children to engage in learning from home.
“Not to mention the parents who, at times, have to teach them who probably haven’t eaten at all so their children can… We MUST do better. This is 2021.”
Rashford teamed up with Child Food Poverty Taskforce last month to stop kids going hungry over the Christmas break.
In a statement on Twitter the Department of Education said: “We are looking into this.
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“We have clear guidelines and standards for food parcels, which we expect to be followed. Parcels should be nutritious and contain a varied range of food.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tweeted: “The images appearing online of woefully inadequate free school meal parcels are a disgrace.
“Where is the money going? This needs sorting immediately so families don’t go hungry through lockdown.”