It's A Mystery, Isn't It?

Today, RoadsideMum described her dismay at opening the free school meal package. She told the BBC: 'As I unpacked that food parcel in my living room and looked at the contents, it felt very sad and very depressing, and one of my children came in and saw me laying this out on the floor and asked why.

'I said I was going to picture it because I didn't think it looked like a lot and I could see the child's realisation that this is what I've been given to eat for a week and just the sense of sadness. 'Where has the rest of the food gone? You know, this is meant to be a week's food. Why is it so mean?'

Almost as big a mystery as why you originally told all your followers it was meant to last ten days...

One Twitter account belonging to a mother called Sarah - RoadsideMum on Twitter - who originally said a sparse package from suppliers Chartwells was supposed to be worth £30 and last ten days.

In an interview this morning, she accepted the groceries had only been intended to last her child seven days...

So, some people don't seem to be learning the lesson that if the government provides a service, it's going to cost more than if you - yourself - provided it. Which you'd think would be like gravity, one of those undeniable laws of nature, or something, but clearly not. 

Let a teacher try to explain: 

'Well all we're given extra is an extra £3.50 a week which was announced yesterday. So obviously the money we normally get for free school meals we have a lot of overheads so it's £2.30 a meal but I only have about £1 to spend on food because we have obviously all the wages and the electricity and the water and everything.

So our food parcels really we only have about £5 a week to spend on food then we got the extra £3.50 yesterday and so it's significantly less than £15 given out to families in vouchers. '

So why, you may ask, do they not simply give these parents more money? And cut out the middleman? 

Well, I give you Exhibit A: 

 The prosecution rests.