School lunches made on-site a hit with young diners in Whanganui

Bernard White, nine (left), Julian Jukes, 10, Rana-Marie White, 10, and Olivia Gardiner, 10, say the school lunches made on-site are tastier and fresher than the previous pre-packaged versions. Photo / Liz Wylie

Schools and families have welcomed the Government’s Budget announcement that the free lunches programme Ka Ora, Ka Ako will continue.

Keith St School in Whanganui was one of the first to adopt the programme when the Labour Government introduced it in February 2021.

Although the school first opted to have lunches prepared by the Ministry of Education provider Compass Group NZ, they have now switched to on-site catering.

A group of Year 6 pupils said the lunches prepared at school are fresher and tastier than the previous meals that were delivered to the school.

“They just taste better, and we get more nice, warm food,” Julian Jukes said.

“And we get a pudding and fruit.”

Olivia Gardiner said she had enjoyed doing surveys offered by the school.

“We were asked what foods we would like to see in our lunches, and we got a lot of foods that we asked for,” she said.

“I also like eating the food from bowls and lunch boxes instead of the cardboard wrapping we had before.”

Rana-Marie White said she liked the yoghurt that accompanied lunch.

“We have custard as well, and sometimes we have icecream as a special treat.”

Younger brother Bernard said chicken wraps were a favourite, as were the chicken burgers.

The beef burgers served in Friday’s lunch had all been eaten. However, young diners said they weren’t up to the usual standard.

“They didn’t taste as good as they usually do,” Bernard said.

Principal Linda Ireton said the burger patties were usually made from scratch by the school lunch team.

“There’s a team member away today, so the pre-prepared patties were used to save time,” she said.

“It’s good to know that they prefer the ones that are made from scratch because there are vegetables in those ones that give them great flavour.”

Friday lunches at Keith St School consist of healthy chicken or beef burgers with fruit, grain snacks and yoghurt, custard or dairy dessert. Photo / Liz Wylie

Ireton said the transition to making lunches on-site had taken a lot of organisation and planning.

“We had to convert our canteen into a proper kitchen and we managed to get funding for that from the Department of Internal Affairs [Lotteries Grants], and we bought some round tables for the older children to sit at.

“Everyone sits down and we say a karakia kai and there’s water on the tables, so it’s like a family meal. On really nice days, we’ll have lunch outside if the food is suitable, but when it is hot food in bowls, we always eat at the tables.”

Ireton said the school board of trustees supported the transition to making meals on-site and staff, including two school parents, were employed part-time to manage the programme.

“It hasn’t been without a few teething problems, but since it started late last year, teachers have noticed that children are more settled and ready to learn in the afternoon because they have enjoyed a good lunch and they’re satisfied.

“We devise a new menu at the start of each term and survey all the students to see what is working well and what isn’t. A Ministry of Education nutritionist approves the menus and they conduct regular checks to ensure that the lunches are up to standard.”

Ireton said the school had been supplying some lunches prior to the introduction of Ka Ora, Ka Ako with food supplied by KidsCan.

“Because we had done that, we were reasonably confident that we could feed the entire roll [currently 147] if we made the necessary changes.

“We also had support and advice from Kai Ora, the Whanganui kai collective, and they’ve been a great help.”

Ireton said food waste had been dramatically reduced since the changes were introduced as well.

“We still have a pig bucket for the waste that does occur, and that goes to an actual pig, so nothing gets thrown away and there’s no packaging to dispose of.”

Keith St is one of a number of Whanganui schools to have made the change to on-site lunch production, and Ireton said they are planning to emulate some other schools in the region by growing more food in the school gardens to add to lunch ingredients.