Sonya Bateson: When a free lunch isn't free

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in Rotorua for an announcement on free lunches in schools. Photo / File

The cool kids at my primary school always had Burger Rings and Tiny Teddies for lunch.

It was the height of pre-teen sophistication to have packaged treats in our lunchboxes to bring out at morning tea - a chance to lord it over the kids who brought out a banana or, God forbid, a packet of chips from a non-name brand.

The shame.

You'd like to think we'd all be grateful for any food in our bags but, truth be told, little children can be judgmental and shallow, forming tribal alliances over the silliest things, those affiliations shifting as rapidly as the direction of the wind.

If it wasn't lunchbox snacks, it was something else - what shoes we were wearing, what Duraseal our books were covered in, whether we could do a handstand for 10 seconds or how good we were at gutter board.

You could be at the top of the social pecking order one day, and shunned the next.

Maybe it's the rose-tinted lenses of the past but one thing I don't remember is any kid going hungry.

Those of my classmates without lunches probably hid their shame best they could, masking their growling tummies to avoid becoming social pariahs.

It's a story I've heard from principals in Tauranga - children turning up at school without even an apple or peanut butter sandwich to get them through the day.

And it's why the Government announced a free school-lunch trial next year. At the Rotorua launch, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the reason for the scheme was "pure and simple – do we want our kids to go hungry?"

It has noble goals - making sure all children have equal access to healthy food to help them learn and grow, regardless of their parents' financial situation or parenting ability.

But, as we this week learned, feeding the masses is not as simple as it sounds. A Murupara school says it has turned down the scheme because it cannot afford to upgrade its kitchen to a commercial standard.

I'm sure the school is far from alone in not having a commercial kitchen, nor the funds to upgrade existing facilities.

It's a shame.

Giving all children, regardless of socioeconomic background, free lunch is one way to ensure all Kiwi kids get a fair shot at growing into successful, productive adults.

It also removes the stigma of being the poor kid who not only comes to school without the fancy food of their wealthier peers, but also has to face the shame of begging their teacher for a meal.

For our children to have equal opportunities to achieve in life, they need to have an equal playing field.