School Lunches

Let’s get the obvious point out of the way: feeding kids at school has both health and educational benefits. It also has much wider benefits in terms of community, social cohesion, long term futures and local economy – we’ll get to that.

I think everyone in Aotearoa has been disgusted by the sight of unappetising, mass-produced, carelessly presented school lunches. It might be coincidental, but this deterioration began after David Seymour more-than-halved the cost per meal (from $8 to $3) , changed providers, then spent days bragging about his fiscal brainpower.  

I don’t think anyone would disagree that first, kids need to eat lunch and second, that lunch should be tasty, nutritious and free of burnt plastic, glass, or anything that could make the child unwell, such as something they’re allergic to.

So we’re agreed on that. But when Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that parents should just “make a Marmite sandwich and put an apple in a bag” (a throwaway comment, guys, he was just joking), this made me suspicious that maybe not everyone knows why it’s a fantastic idea to provide kids with lunch at school. 

The evidence suggests that even for kids whose families can provide a Marmite sandwich (not everyone likes Marmite, just saying), a universal lunch program is still highly beneficial.

Ka Ora, Ka Ako – what is it?

The School Lunch programme run by the Ministry of Education covers only 25 percent of schools at the moment. Schools are offered funding for lunches if they score high enough on the Equity Index (EQI), a measure that estimates the extent to which young people at that school face socio-economic barriers to achieving in education. (EQI also determines the level of other support for schools).

Ka Ora, Ka Ako schools get meals provided to all their students – a sound decision to avoid stigmatisation and, of course, to make sure that if there are hot lunches going round, everyone gets one. Schools can choose to have this fully paid for and provided by the government (external model), or set up and run their own catering (internal model). Not surprisingly, with all the other responsibilities teachers carry, most schools have opted for the external model. 

I talked to two school principals about what the school lunch program has meant for their schools.

Tracy Thorn, Principal at Milson Primary School in Palmerston North, said that since the school opted into the programme in 2020, it has been transformational. “We stopped having so many behavioural issues once we moved lunchtime so that the kids were getting food early enough. The kids get really excited on the days when we get a hot lunch, and they’re keen to try ‘novelty’ foods too, like butter chicken.” Tracy also said that the kids became more interested in understanding where food came from and how it was put together – “build a burger, where they construct their own meal, is always popular.”

Sacha Williams, Principal of a remote rural school in Kaitaia says, “At Oturu School, we know that food plays a critical role in supporting both learning and wellbeing. The Ka Ora, Ka Ako lunch programme has had a significant impact in our school community, where many of our whānau face financial pressure, and food insecurity is a daily reality.

“It is never the fault of our tamariki when they come to school without enough to eat. As educators, we see the difference it makes when that barrier is removed – children are more settled, focused, and ready to learn. Providing lunch at school is not just about nutrition; it’s about equity, dignity, and creating the conditions for success.”

Tracy also echoed the theme of respect and dignity for the child and for the community. “There’s a ripple effect of care and respect. Our school prides itself on really caring, even beyond the school gate.” For many cultures, feeding the body is the simplest expression of nurturing all the other connections – family, community, environment, mental health and spiritual needs – that wrap around a child. There’s also the recognition that most New Zealanders come from a collectivist, not individualist community. Caring for everyone together is normal. 

 

The health effects

Our brains are the most energy-hungry organ in our body. An adult brain consumes about 12 percent  of our average caloric intake for the day.  A growing brain requires even more. Children who do not get enough food find it harder to process information and to focus their attention. These factors contribute negatively to how a child sees themselves, and to disruptive behaviour in the classroom. Given that every school wants to deliver on its core objective of allowing every student to learn, offering kids breakfast and lunch is a no-brainer (pun intended).

Poor nutrition leads to many long term health effects, including lowered immunity and increased absenteeism due to sickness. Heart, lungs, kidneys, muscles – you name it – every system of the body is more fragile if it isn’t fed. My aunty endured starvation when she was a child refugee – and has subsequently suffered from the effects of chronic illness throughout her adult life. Let me state the obvious – having decent, regular meals sets you up for the future: for good physical, mental, social and economic health. (It also sets up your descendants, but I’ll resist the urge to nerd out on my fave topic, epigenetics).

Ample studies overseas, where school lunch programs have been running for longer, point to massive benefits for students: measurable improvements in mental health, better dental health and reduced chronic diseases as adults.  Even in the short time that Ka Ora, Ka Ako has been running, evaluations have found reduced hunger, better physical functioning, improved mental wellbeing and improved capacity to learn for students within the programme. 

 

The educational effects

When I was a junior doctor, I volunteered to help out on an arts program in South Auckland called ‘An Absolute Rush’. As it was running over the school holidays, we didn’t expect many young people to turn up – but over a hundred did, and the next day there were even more, and they kept attending over the two weeks. 

They came because they got to learn songwriting, rap, dance, and performance with amazing local creatives who donated their time – but they also came because aunties and uncles in the community showed up to cook for them with food that local businesses had donated. It was manaakitanga (care and respect) in action. For me as a young paediatric doctor, it was as valuable to learning about youth health as any of my other training. It taught me that for some health interventions, burning shoe leather and getting out to ask for help from the community is all part of the mahi. ‘An Absolute Rush’ remains a highlight of my career.

After the programme ended I completed a mini research project which showed that participants benefitted from improvements in social cohesion, mental health and physical health. I’m still in touch with a few of those participants over 20 years later. They are now my colleagues.

It is clear that feeding kids does improve attendance, as well as having many other benefits.  A kaupapa Māori evaluation for Ka Ora, Ka Ako noted “identifiable shifts in behaviour, attitudes, attendance and intellectual engagement during class” for Māori learners. Many schools use the school lunch program as an on-ramp to subjects like climate, science and agriculture – farm-to-plate programs are popular. A primary school might receive meals made in collaboration with a high school program, nurturing relationships between schools. Although the NZ program hasn’t been running long enough to capture long term changes to attendance (and the pandemic has a long tail of effect), a Swedish study found that kids stayed in school for longer, improving their lifelong earning potential. 

 

The wider effects

Four Ka Ora, Ka Ako schools in Hawke’s Bay surveyed whānau, students, and staff. They found that not only did students thrive because of increased equity, but there were knock-on effects: families choosing healthier options because kids brought home new ideas and knowledge of alternative foods; decreased financial hardship for the whole family, improved food security, and decreased stress in the home.

In a time where living costs are tenuous for many families, a free school lunch has huge consequences. An average family with two kids saves about $62 per week – adding up to over $2,000 per year.  In 2022, 2,361 local jobs were created or retained due to the school lunch programme. Workers are paid at least a living wage too, so everyone wins.

What about the national economy? Four years is not long enough to measure what the effect will be in NZ, but in Scotland local sourcing and partnerships has been credited with boosting local economic development. A Social Return on Investment study of the Scottish programme – folding in environmental, economic, and health factors  – estimated a return of £6 for each £1 invested in the programme: a six fold return. A fiscally responsible government wouldn’t sneeze at that.

 

What must happen now

From the start of this year, David Seymour awarded the contract for external provision of school lunches to the benignly named School Lunch Collective. This is actually a business conglomerate made up of UK-based multinational Compass PLC, and Gilmours, a wholesale food supplier owned by Foodstuffs NZ.

Milson School Principal Tracy Thorn says, “We noticed an immediate deterioration in quality. We went from having a provider (Libelle) who built a kitchen locally in Papaoiea and employed locals, many of whom were school parents – to having a provider that barely communicated. I found out Libelle had folded and been bought out by Compass after one of our board members texted me after hearing media reports! 

We sent them our feedback daily, but when nothing changed and we asked to change our provider we were told that we’d been filing the wrong paperwork and we were not allowed to do so.

One of our young kids found glass in their lunch. Of course that meant we had to check the lunches of every child – teachers did it for the younger kids, and the older kids were shown how to squeeze their lunch containers to look for glass themselves. There have also been bone fragments found, and kids who are supposed to be dairy-free have received dairy products.”

Sacha Williams, Oturu School Principal, puts it so well: “It’s vital that this programme is funded in a way that allows us to provide food that is nutritious, culturally appropriate, plentiful, and responsive to the needs of our tamariki. The current funding does not fully support that. If we are serious about equity in education and health outcomes, then we must ensure our schools have the resources to meet those needs effectively.”

Ministry of Education nutritionists have found that the new provider is not supplying enough caloric content for students’ learning needs. There are multiple other reports which all stack up: the food is so bad or is repeated so often that kids won’t eat it; schools need to cover the costs of disposal and order new food that kids will eat; senior teachers spend hours sorting and delivering food; and, there seems to be a disregard for both accurate labelling and cultural safety. We will just have to see if the promised Auditor-General’s review helps to push a return to better food. 

But what of the future for the program?

A summary of research evidence for Ka Ora, Ka Ako in 2024 (before the changes) came to the conclusion that the benefits were so great that school lunches needed to be extended to all students in all schools. (Note that a school in a wealthier area may still have students from families who can’t afford to send lunch to school.) 

The report by public health doctors, ‘Evidence for free school lunches: The bigger picture benefits’ concludes:

 “A universal model where free lunches are provided to every child in the school creates a level playing field. Research from middle schools in New York City found that extending free school lunches to all students, regardless of income, improved academic performance (math and English test scores) for children of all economic backgrounds. Studies from Norway also suggest the act of eating the same meal together results in increased wellbeing and improved dietary habits for all kids involved.” 

I’ve linked to the report below if you want to read the whole thing – I’ve drawn heavily from it for this column. 

Tracy Thorn, Milson School Principal, deserves the last word. “It’s about communication, localisation and relationships. When I see our parents working to feed our kids, I feel like there’s a circle, all of us creating with the children in the centre. That’s what hauora (health and wellbeing) is.”

 

phcc.org.nz/briefing/evidence-free-school-lunches-bigger-picture-benefits