Health Coalition Aotearoa (HCA) said a report from the Auditor General adds ballast to their call for a properly resourced and permanently funded, through Vote Education, free school lunch programme.
They said that the new report finds the programme was unfairly procured, ignored risks with the suppliers, one of which went into liquidation, and has not been properly measured, monitored and managed.
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“What has been measured shows poor performance on key target outcomes, chiefly that half the lunches, on average, are not meeting the nutrition standards,” said Health Coalition Aotearoa food spokesperson Dr Kelly Garton.
Related School News article: Permanent funding needed for lunch programme, Health Coalition Aotearoa say
Despite the changes being justified as ways to reduce surplus and waste, neither of these have been managed effectively, said HCA: surplus increased to 17 percent in 2026, despite a contractual limit of 10 percent, and waste (measured in Term 3 2025) was higher for the School Lunch Collective delivery model than internal and iwi models.
“Slashing funding isn’t ‘delivering savings’ if you are actively undermining programme delivery,” said Garton.
“Our kids deserve better. It’s time to revert to proper funding for this essential programme which was delivering excellent value for investment before 2025, according to independent evaluation.”
Associate Education Minister David Seymour talked about cost savings, but not cost-effectiveness, said Health Coalition Aotearoa Chair Professor Boyd Swinburn.
“Seymour did not talk about the ‘effectiveness’ side of the equation – effectiveness for reducing food insecurity, improving learning and quality of life.”
“The current programme has provided only 13 to 17 percent of child’s energy needs for the day and that should be about 25 percent. The previous version provided 20 to 25 percent of a child’s energy needs, so was much closer and had good nutritional qualities.
“With Ka Ora Ka Ako, the first version – the government invested significantly in evaluations and found improvements in attendance, mental health and quality of life.
“We have got to go for version three. We’ve had version one – it was generously funded and had good outcomes.
“We have a low-cost version now. It has saved money but has problems that have been highlighted by the Auditor General. Let’s get a version three that works for taxpayers, kids and meets nutritional standards.”
