Government’s New School Lunch Rollout Fails Pasifika Students, Leaving Them Hungry

Pasifika school kids are going hungry as the Government’s new school lunch provider fails to deliver. The rollout is being labelled a disaster by many schools, students and teachers who have been left scrambling to find solutions, while the Ministry of Education struggles to correct the delivery systems.

Pasifika students make up a big part of the schools eligible for the schools lunch programme, which has been a welcome relief for Pasifika families on the breadline in the past. 

At Ōtāhuhu College, students were unimpressed after sampling meals from the new provider. One student, when asked how much they would pay for the meal, responded bluntly: “I wouldn’t buy it... like, 50 cents... Not even 50 cents.”

Samoan Labour MP Carmel Sepuloni has been visiting schools in her electorate, listening firsthand to the frustration and disruption caused by the transition to a new multinational lunch provider.

“Speaking to Kelston Boys' High Principal today [yesterday] – the food didn’t show up on Friday or Monday. Then, on Tuesday, it arrived, but today it didn’t turn up until 2pm. And there were no special meals for the 60 boys with dietary requirements,” Sepuloni said. “So, the teachers and Principal have had to run around getting food for the kids – expending energy that would be better spent teaching the kids. On top of that, the Ministry of Education is going to be reimbursing the school for the meals the school has had to purchase. So much for cost-saving and being a government focused on educating our children.”

A student panel rated the food between zero and two for flavour. A journalist from the NZ Herald described one meal as “a container of sadness and carrots,” pointing out the overwhelming amount of diced carrot and the “fatty mouth feel” of the pasta bolognese, which lacked key ingredients like mushrooms, celery, capsicum, and onion.

The backlash hasn’t been limited to students. Parents, too, are frustrated. A mother of four with two daughters at McAuley High School told Coconet, “It’s really disappointing that my girls went hungry... I would have prepared something for them had I known, but even that isn’t the reality for a lot of the families in our community. A lot of families rely on these meals to get through the day.”

Despite mounting criticism, Associate Education Minister David Seymour defended the programme. “It doesn’t matter if you’re at a fast food joint, a Michelin-style restaurant, or your nan’s home cooking – there will always be a variety of opinions about the quality of the food,” he said. Seymour insisted the government and its lunch provider were committed to “continuous improvement” and that, in time, students should be able to say, “actually, it may not be the best meal I’ve ever had, it’s definitely not the worst, altogether I think it’s pretty good.”

But that reassurance rings hollow for those dealing with the fallout. Schools have lost trust in the Government’s new provider, with some already returning to their previous suppliers to ensure their students are actually fed.

“The school has told MoE they have gone back to their original lunch provider to ask that they prepare and deliver the lunches to their boys next week. The school has no trust and confidence in the multinational provider Seymour chose to contract,” Sepuloni said.

The Government’s cost-cutting gamble has backfired spectacularly. Students have been left without meals, teachers are being forced into crisis mode, and taxpayers are now covering emergency reimbursements for schools that had to buy their own food.

“This is just another example of why New Zealanders should not place their trust and confidence in this Government,” Sepuloni said. “Their food in schools programme is a shambles – just like their coalition.”