Last month, David Seymour’s press release on school lunches said:
“The [school lunch] programme was reformed to deliver the same outcomes while costing taxpayers less. This was achieved by embracing commercial expertise, using government buying power, and generating supply chain efficiencies…”
And while that all sounded fair, the end result is - from this, last year:
To now - the new “improved” programme under the government’s flagship corporate partnership -
And despite Seymour telling Newsroom last week that he’s had compliments from principals about the program, it turns out the government isn’t tracking feedback at all.
Makes sense.
Consistently poor quality, “late, burnt and leaking”, non-nutritious, prison food, with non-Halal ham described as “Halal friendly” delivered to Muslim students - all while looking like slop.
In some cases, schools are being delivered the same already unappetising meal for 12 days in a row.
And this new “better” school lunch program - which is frozen and defrosted in Hamilton before being transported all around the country, is seeing cases of 70%+ food wastage.1
And while the government touts “cost savings”, the reality is the waste is adding up
On top of that, it turns out that the administrative burden of the new program is adding thousands of dollars directly onto schools.
Let alone the added costs of emissions, thousands of Kiwi jobs gone, more Kiwis on beneficiaries, disruptions for school staff which are having to spend hours dealing with the problems, many schools are having to fork out to buy food when the food doesn’t arrive or arrives burnt or not compliant with the label, more potential health problems and poor role modelling for kids.
One Murchison Area school principle has called it all a “bloody disaster”.
Last year, National’s then Education spokesperson, Erica Stanford, described Labour’s School Lunch Program as a “shocking” and “extraordinary level of waste”.
“National wants to see a more targeted approach to school lunches that reduces waste, and delivers good value for money, but ensures the students most in need receive the benefit of a healthy lunch so they can get the education they deserve.”
What was that then? 5% or 10%?
And now it’s 70%, has Stanford forgetten her values and objectives now she’s in government? That is when the Education Minister is not personally spreading misinformation herself.
But David Seymour told Newsroom his goal on school lunches was really about matching “nutritional requirements at a lower cost.”
The reality, as Andrew Riddell points out, is Seymour is lying to Kiwis.
Ministry of Education:
I can advise that the government’s decision to change the Ka Ora, Ka Ako | Healthy School Lunches programme preceded the receipt of any nutritional assessment or proposals.
i.e. There appear to be zero nutritional requirements for the school lunches2 and it shows - every single day.
Seymour’s penchant for deceit appears pathological - last year telling Newsroom:
“I simply want to see sound outcomes…nutrition for children”.
That must be why there are zero nutritional requirements on the listeria, scandal ridden multinational he hired for the job.
And why Seymour’s press releases and words need to be taken with a huge tank of salt.
When this government tells you foreign investment decisions are being made for the good of the country and for “economic benefits,” you need to help each other understand what it truly means.
Excellent article Tui. I don’t think I’m going to be able to shut up about this waste thing. The fact that Seymour used racism to claim that kids weren’t eating “unappealing” foods (when the ethnic foods like butter chicken were cited as the favourite in a very unofficial one news school yard poll) and then he serves up literal slop knowing that when people complain about the programme, people who are okay with kids going hungry will say they should just “eat what they’ve been given” is infuriating.
Seymour should be made to eat these school lunches every day. Someone should take one of these uneaten leftover containers of slop and drive it to parliament each morning for him to heat up at lunch.
It’s the only way he’ll ever admit what he’s done: rubbing his nose right in it like a naughty puppy.
Thank you Tui for holding these guys to account.
Every member of the government tells an initial lie and then slowly modifies it. It doesn't matter what the topic is. The public only remembers the lie. In this case, the public were told by Seymour, that school lunches would be more like what every other kid gets from home, sandwiches, fruit and a muesli bar, rather than a hot meal or "woke" sushi. Except he's delivering disgusting brown mush, in tiny quantities, with zero nutritional value. Has everyone forgotten the promise of sandwiches and fruit?