Will’s Word: It’s a free lunch, not a five-star buffet

Another day, another slay - not so much. Another petition, another wave of outrage, frankly, over the good old school lunch programme.

Now there's a call to scrap Compass Group's contract - the group responsible for the food programme - arguing that some meals just aren't up to scratch.

Honestly, I'm fed up with the cacophony of noise around this.

Yeah, the programme had issues. No one's saying melted plastic surprise in a kid's lunch is okay.

But let's get some perspective, and I always come back to this point: it's a free meal.

Kids who might otherwise go without are getting something to eat, and yet the way some people are carrying on, you'd think the children are being fed prison food.

The Government, and I'm not siding with them on this, does say that it's trying to make the programme sustainable, arguing that Labour didn't even budget for the programme beyond last year.

So, the next government had to step in and find ways to make it more cost-effective. That's the narrative that the coalition's pointing to, not me.

You’d have to think that the old model perhaps was a financial sinkhole, and tough decisions ultimately had to be made.

Listen to Will’s Word on Facebook below.

Now, we've got a petition demanding a return to the old system because, apparently, that was so much better.

Are we looking at that old system through rose-tinted glasses? Truly, I can still remember the stories back then of students complaining about food, the way it looked - over it.

Yeah, it'd be nice if every meal looked gourmet, but the reality is, it's not.

My dinners that I make at home - not gourmet. My lunches that I make myself - not gourmet. The bottom line is, some kids are getting fed who wouldn't be otherwise.

Just maybe, instead of endless complaining, we could focus on fixing other issues. So enough with the petitions, and enough with the outrage.

Eat your damn lunch and move on.

That's Will's Word.