The lunch served up at the project's launch in Flaxmere. Photo / RNZ
The lunch served up at the project's launch in Flaxmere. Photo / RNZ
Renowned Kiwi chef Simon Gault says the nation's new free school lunch scheme is a "genius idea" but the corn chips should get the chop.
"To me, serving kids chips at lunch – there's no goodness, it's just rubbish, it doesn't need to be in there. It should be protein, vegetables with some fruit," the MasterChef NZ judge told the Herald.
"I love a chip, but I don't think they should be in a lunchbox every day."
The new school lunches were unveiled at Flaxmere Primary School yesterday by none other that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
A nutritionist has given the meals a tentative pass mark but suggests giving the lone chicken drumstick, pasta salad, nacho chips, half an apple, sliced carrot and a surprise grape a tasty sauce and colourful garnish to really make it a first-class Kiwi kids' dish.
Gault said the neutral flavours were likely needed to prevent alienating picky children.
"It's about getting goodness into them. We've got the second fattest children in the world, we've got to take it seriously and we've got to start with the kids. But we need to get them cooking."
MasterChef NZ judge Simon Gault is a big fan of the free lunch scheme - but not of corn chips.
But instead of a lunch lady, the free food was dolled out by the Prime Minister herself.
Ardern was in Hawke's Bay yesterday promoting the Government's free and healthy school lunch programme, which is feeding schoolkids in the region.
Seven thousand students at 31 schools in Tairāwhiti/Hawke's Bay and Waiariki/Bay of Plenty are taking a bite out of the programme.
"Ultimately we want every child in New Zealand to be learning with a full stomach," Ardern said. "A full stomach makes all the difference to a child's learning."
Ardern sat with the children while they ate, sharing corn chips with Izaiyah Kiyal, saying she felt bad as they were his favourite food but he kept offering to share.
The free food, and a lunch date with the PM, were met with thumbs up from the kids, with pupil Rhyka Mansell describing the lunch as "delicious".
For Rhylan Arahanga, it hit all the right notes, as fruit, biscuits, chips and macaroni were what he usually wanted to eat, he said.
Nutritionist Sean Robertson said he was "stoked" to see the programme in schools across the country.
But he wanted to see a more colourful approach to the meals.
"Where's the green? That's the part I'd love to see. I really say you should eat the rainbow - if I saw every colour in their lunchbox coming from natural foods, I'd be a very happy man."
And the decidedly yellow corn chips and pasta didn't count, Robertson said.
"That is all refined carbs. They're going to have an insulin spike eating this and then they're going to crash afterwards, which is not conducive to learning."
"I'd replace the pasta and corn chips with some fat and oil - fats protect the brain and help it to grow."
School principal Robyn Isaacson said the programme meant children were able "to open a lunch box, to never actually complain about what's in it, to know that it is nutritious and is able to fill their pukus so they can learn in the afternoon".
The menu received a tick of approval from nutritionist Erika Motoie, who said it was a great incentive to get vitamins and energy in young brains and bodies.
"I think it is a fantastic idea that can make the kids look forward to a different food experience each day."
Jacinda Ardern shares a child's free school lunch at Flaxmere Primary School.
Motoie said she would present the meals a little differently, however, with some sauce on the side, more flavours, a touch more greens and a hint of garnish.
"After all, we eat with our eyes as well," she said.
But will the kids find it appealing?
"Depending on how they eat at home, this could be a real feast," Motoie said.
"But some of them would need some disguising techniques - recipes like vege fritters or vege muffins - that would use the veges in a yummy and fun way."
The kids' lunches cost around $5 per child per meal.
This is the Christmas Day lunch enjoyed by prison inmates. Photo / Corrections Department
But, for a mere 60c more per head per day, prisoners are treated to a full roast dinner on Christmas Day complete with piping hot gravy, followed by apple pie with custard for dessert.
Come December 25, inmates feast on a lunch made by fellow prisoners at on-site kitchens.
But no trimmings, treats or trifle are to be found, as all prison meals are in line with nutrition guidelines recommended by the Ministry of Health.
"While it meets basic nutritional requirements, it is not lavish," the Corrections website said.
Prisoners round off the day with cold meats and salads.
The free and healthy school lunches' programme is one of 75 initiatives from New Zealand's Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy launched last year, which was developed with input from 10,000 New Zealanders including 6000 young people.
