Associate Education Minister David Seymour has unveiled the new school lunches that will be given to schools as part of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako | Healthy School Lunches programme.
According to Seymour in a speech to people from the government, education sector and media, he is spending half as much for lunches as the previous regime.
“[A] group of people, from the public service, from community groups, and from business, have come together to produce a result that is better than what we had and costs half as much.
“[This is] allowing the school lunch programme to continue in a way that‘s fiscally sustainable.
“They have ensured that students who are in the lower 25 percent in terms of need will show up to school and be given healthy school lunches that continue to meet the nutritional standards of the healthy school lunch programme but are achieved at the rate of $3 per meal,” he said.
He concluded the speech, by reiterating the lunch programmes were not being cancelled.
Before handing the podium over to people who worked on the kaupapa, he took a quick jab at the previous government.
“Had the previous government adopted this scheme from the very beginning of the healthy school lunch programme, the total savings would’ve been $861 million.
“That is $861 million of debt in the government books right now we wouldn’t have if only this approach had been adopted by day one.”
Students in Years 0-8 will get 240g meals, while older students will receive at least 300g, with extras like fruit, yogurt or muesli bars. Schools using the external model will still get daily hot and cold meals delivered. Those using the internal or iwi/hapū model will access wholesale ingredients and get a funding boost ($4 per meal) to keep preparing meals in-house.
Later, Seymour sampled the new menu, tasting the butter chicken, with his first words while still chewing his first bite being “mmm, you are good” directed towards the chef.
He rated it 9.25 out of 10, due to his second school lunch being a bit better at 9.5 out of 10.
“This is seriously good food,” he said.
Ministry of Education general manager Lynda Pura-Watson helped Seymour in the lunches reboot, even receiving flowers for her work.
She told Te Ao Māori News, the “children were the heart” of the day.
"Children everywhere accessing lunch at an time where most people thought it wasn’t possible.
“Key people came together [and] did a very good job. [They] took advice from the expert advisory group, were able to then use that expertise, alongside education expertise, we’ve spoken to children, kaiako, [and] tumuaki, making sure that when we delivered what was needed to be delivered, we considered the voice of many.”
Additional reporting by RNZ.