Associate Education Minister David Seymour will today reveal a revamped school lunch menu to members of the press gallery at Parliament. Budget 2024 saw $478 Million set aside for the programme, first introduced by Labour. Earlier this year Seymour indicated he wanted to see savings of more than $100 million. Naenae College Principal Chris Taylor has previously said he has seen the positive impacts from the programme:
“I was here at the beginning before the lunches came out so I can speak to the fact that our students are doing significantly better in terms of behaviour,” he said.
“We used to have fights and drama as kids were hungry and the day drew on.
“We’ve also noticed an improvement in the kids’ concentration levels … because they have food to keep that kind of mental energy up.”
