Recent discussions about government provision of school lunches have spurred memories of my own schooldays.
At primary school, I experienced a Labour government’s, reportedly, world-first initiative to improve school children’s health by supplying milk. To the best of my recollection, it was kept on a bench outside a classroom and tended to be rather past its drinkable best by the time it reached us. Begun in 1937, the scheme was discontinued in 1967.
A food and agricultural report summary notes that school food in New Zealand consists of a free lunch programme, which began in 2019 for primary and intermediate-aged students in disadvantaged communities. It provides lunches to students in 40 per cent of our schools. Ineligible students bring (or are supposed to bring) packed lunches.
Around the world, options for feeding school children vary from full provision of lunches to everyone to no standard system at all. According to an RNZ report, Australia, Canada and Denmark are among the only high income countries that do not provide school meals.
Absenteeism – the real crisis
Former Labour Party minister and ACT Party leader, Richard Prebble, said:
“Free school lunches are an example of Parkinson’s law of triviality. We worry about [them] while ignoring the real crisis in education, absenteeism. Free school lunches are a solution looking for a problem.”
I don’t, in any way, doubt that many families in New Zealand are struggling, but I’m puzzled that free school lunches are being perceived by some as the solution.
My family wasn’t anywhere near well off when I grew up. I was part of a post Second World War generation entering what promised to be a more rewarding era, although it was yet to show many signs of this. I certainly wouldn’t have classed my own, or my friends’, lifestyles as those of the rich and famous.
My mother worked in factories, finishing around 3pm so she could be home when her children returned from school. My father trudged off daily to catch a train and work in an office in Wellington. He seemed to spend most of his spare time growing food and painstakingly adding a couple of rooms to our very small house to shelter his growing family.
My mother assembled sandwiches each morning and, if we were lucky, a bit of fruit. Our packed lunches were, generally, eaten quickly, items were traded for others thought more appetising and some went uneaten.
The New Zealand government recently proposed a full redesign of the school lunch programme. According to an RNZ report, slightly fewer than 1000 schools participate in the programme, accounting for 40% of schools and 27% of all students. Proposed menu changes include options for hot dishes, fruit, muesli bars and sandwiches.
Prebble, wisely I think, recommends paying the estimated $3 daily food subsidy, per student, directly to schools to disburse as appropriate and practical. We certainly shouldn’t transport hot meals due to the extra expense it entails. He also recommends reimbursement only for the number of eligible children who actually attend school, given that New Zealand has a very high level of absenteeism.
(¹) With thanks to the late songwriter, Lionel Bart
Related: Going up in smoke
