Food programme welcomed

The new food in schools programme has met with approval in Tauranga - although some are worried it takes responsibility away from parents.

The Government will put up $9.5 million over the next five years to allow Fonterra and Sanitarium to expand the KickStart school breakfast programmes from two days to five days a week for all schools that need it.

The two companies also committed to matching that by more than $4.5 million each. It will begin in decile one to four schools this year and higher decile schools can begin opting in next year.

Gate Pa School principal Richard Inder said the programme was a good initiative to help those who needed it, although he didn't think it was the school's role to feed children.

"For us, we don't see that schools should be in the business of providing breakfast for school children every day. Most parents do that but it's good to be able to provide help when parents are struggling."

Mr Inder said at Gate Pa School they already run KickStart twice a week, with donations from a local supermarket making up the other three days. He hoped donations from supermarkets would still come in so children could be provided with porridge as well as the Weet-Bix provided by the programme. Arataki School principal Dene Langley said as a decile two school, they had used KickStart for a number of years and he's seen children who used the programme function better since they started it.

Mr Langley said his concern was the costs on schools to employ someone to run the programme.

"I'm not going to say we're whinging but we do have to employ someone to run the programme, or get volunteers. If all the schools are going to use this option, they're going to have to employ someone to administer it, it's another job."

Tauranga Foodbank chairman Mike Baker said he hoped the programme would help struggling families, but as the programme was only initially being rolled out to lower decile schools, he didn't think it would have much impact yet.

"For starters, schools are open 40 weeks a year, five days a week. That's 200 days out of 365, without including public holidays and everything else." Mr Baker said it was a step in the right direction but there was a danger it may create even more dependency. "I know of a school that was providing meals to their children, it was only about 10 per cent to 12 per cent of the children then it went up to 70 per cent to 80 per cent because other parents said 'why should I provide food for my children when they get fed for free?"'

Pierre van Heerden, general manager of Sanitarium, said KickStart was providing a space for children to develop social and life skills

Carly Robinson, of Fonterra Group, said the company was committed to caring for the communities in which they live and work.