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Friday, January 31, 2025

New school lunch programme serves up first healthy meals

Associate Education Minister David Seymour, left. File photo supplied

Associate Education Minister David Seymour this week visited an Auckland school where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy meals to students in the first days of the school year.

“As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day,” Seymour says.

“On today’s menu from the School Lunch Collective is beef pasta bolognaise in classic tomato sauce.

“Last year the 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 to realise over $130 million of annual cost savings, even more than anticipated in Budget 2024.

“Every student who previously received a school lunch will continue to do so.

“By leveraging private sector expertise from companies like Compass Group, Libelle, Gilmours, and over 17 food manufacturers and suppliers, we are setting a precedent for the Government working with businesses to achieve better results.”

Seymour says the coalition Government is also providing food for up to 10,000 two-to-five-year-olds who attend low-equity, community-based early learning services.

This will be funded by some of the cost savings found in the lunch programme.

From March 31 about 4000 children will receive meals in early learning centres.

Additional centres will join the programme every six weeks until 10,000 children are receiving nutritious food, Seymour says.

“I expect the programme will continue to evolve over time. But first and foremost we’re proud to deliver the new programme to schools for the start term 1, 2025.”

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