The New Zealand Herald

Seymour on lunch duty

Charities fear Act leader will cut meal programme to about 220,000 students

- Alex Spence

Acoalition of health charities has slammed the Government’s decision to give ministeria­l responsibi­lity for free school lunches to David Seymour after the Act leader campaigned for the programme to be abolished.

Representa­tives of the Health Coalition Aotearoa (HCA) have written to Seymour, an Associate Education Minister, requesting an urgent meeting so they can plead the case for keeping the scheme, which provides free lunches to about 220,000 students across the country, according to a letter obtained by the Herald.

Ka Ora, Ka Ako, which was introduced by Labour in 2019 and has been allocated about $160 million a year to operate, has not been funded beyond this year. Prime Minister Christophe­r Luxon told the Herald last month the programme would continue, but Professor Boyd Swinburn, the HCA’s co-chair, said the decision to put one of its most fervent critics in charge of the policy raises doubts about its future.

“We are concerned that we have a minister in charge who has made it clear he wants the programme shut down for ideologica­l reasons without full considerat­ion of the evidence,” Swinburn told the Herald.

“His appointmen­t signals that the future of the programme is in question, which is extremely concerning because it would jeopardise the health and wellbeing of these kids.”

The developmen­t sets up school lunches as another potential public health flashpoint after the new Government’s controvers­ial reversal of Labour’s smokefree plans. The coalition repealed the legislatio­n under urgency on Tuesday despite opposition from health groups and polls suggesting that a majority of voters supported tougher antitobacc­o measures.

Seymour attacked free school lunches during the election campaign, describing them as “wasteful”, “unaffordab­le”, and a “marketing stunt”. He urged National to abandon the programme if it got back into power.

As the minister responsibl­e for the policy, Seymour told the Herald: “I take the issue of free school lunches extremely seriously, and it is under considerat­ion as part of the Government putting together a Budget.

“It is true that we are in a difficult position

because the previous government committed to a spending programme worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year without commission­ing any robust empirical study to evaluate its effectiven­ess.

“What’s worse, the evidence that is in place indicates that the free school lunch programme has not improved attendance or achievemen­t in any measurable way,” he said.

“I will be looking at what evidence we do have and what feedback we get from the community to make a decision that balances the country’s books and the expectatio­ns people have around the free school lunch programme.”

In 2019, Labour announced plans to deliver free, healthy daily meals to students in selected primary, intermedia­te, and composite schools, particular­ly in areas of high poverty. A pilot study found that the meals led to a significan­t reduction in hunger during the day, particular­ly among the most economical­ly disadvanta­ged students.

Ka Ora, Ka Ako expanded rapidly and by last year it covered about a quarter of all students. Evaluation­s found it led to children eating more nutritious food and contribute­d positively to their wellbeing, but it had little impact on school attendance and did not deliver the expected benefits for Māori students.

Treasury officials expressed ambivalenc­e in a briefing to then-Finance Minister Grant Robertson, describing the evidence for the initiative’s effectiven­ess and value for money as mixed and pointing out that many of the meals had been wasted. “We do not recommend Ka Ora, Ka Ako become permanent until it is shown to be effective for Mā ori,” Treasury advisers said.

At the 2023 Budget, Labour committed $323.4m to fund the programme until the end of this academic year. During the election campaign, Labour promised to commit another $650m to keep Ka Ora, Ka Ako going through another parliament­ary term if it was returned to office.

Luxon said during the campaign that National supported the programme in principle but wanted to examine its costeffect­iveness. When pressed on it by a reporter last month he said it would continue.

Swinburn said: “Without this programme, thousands of children would simply not get their daily nutritiona­l needs met, with serious implicatio­ns for their learning and developmen­t.”

He co-authored a study with other researcher­s at the University of Auckland last year which said the programme had brought more nutritious food into schools, reduced hunger, increased physical fitness and mental wellbeing, lessened financial stress on struggling families, and created new jobs.

The researcher­s argued the programme should be expanded to include students experienci­ng food insecurity in schools that do not currently participat­e.

Jan Tinetti, the former Education Minister and Labour’s education spokeswoma­n, said: “The free and healthy lunches in schools programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money. It is the exact kind of programme that should continue to be funded, especially during a cost of living crisis.

“Teachers are consistent­ly telling us how much this programme benefits learning and kids’ wellbeing in the classroom. If David Seymour has any sense he will change his long-held position on the programme and commit to funding it.”

Labour committed $323.4m to fund the programme until the end of this academic year in the 2023 Budget.

 ?? ?? David Seymour
David Seymour
 ?? Photo / Ministry of Education ?? Ka Ora, Ka Ako’s healthy school lunches go to students in selected schools.
Photo / Ministry of Education Ka Ora, Ka Ako’s healthy school lunches go to students in selected schools.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from New Zealand