Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Last Wednesday, Newsround reported that 3.5 million children in Britain are living in poverty.

Nel: One of the UK's biggest police forces has told Newsround that the number of children stealing food is on the up, compared to those stealing things like sweets. Greater Manchester Police told us they think it's down to kids not having any food available to them in their homes. Well in Islington in London officers are giving out food vouchers to kids to try to stop them from turning to crime.

Hayley spoke to an Inspector from the London Metropolitan Police, who said they're not stealing sweets and chocolate and chewing gum, "they're actually going out and stealing bread and food for themselves and the family."

In light of the situation, perhaps the BBC should be more careful and a lot more sensitive.

Last night the actors who play Maddy and Rhydian in new kids' drama Wolfblood were in the studio to promote the series. They were asked to take part in a game, blindfolded, to make the best-tasting sandwich in twenty seconds. As a result, the desk was piled high with wasted bread and other food. BBC bosses need to have a word with CBBC's Head of Presentation to hopefully ensure there's no recurrence.

Finally I think the BBC, as well as making those elitist food programmes such as Masterchef, should also be more responsive to the needs of poor families, on a low budget. One leading supermarket chain, for example, is presently selling own brand mushy peas for 4p per tin. The BBC could point out other bargains and suggest recipes that enable families to live healthily at very little expense.

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