We abandon free school dinners at our peril | Comment

Free school meals are not just about providing basic nutrition – though too many children are relying on them for that reason – they are also a vital step in learning about food and wellbeingIn 1908, at tables laid with fresh cloths, more than 3,000 of the poorest school children of Bradford sat down to eat a two-course lunch every weekday. In the centre of each table was a vase of flowers. These were the ideas of Ralph Crowley, a pioneering medical officer in Bradford who first help