Auckland's North Harbour Stadium kitchen will help feed 9000 school kids per day

Thursday, 8 April 2021

The underutilised North Harbour Stadium kitchen will be put to work helping to feed 9000 school kids each day.

More than 9000 kids will have full tummies to help them focus at school each day, thanks to an agreement putting the underused North Harbour Stadium kitchen to work.

Spotless and Auckland Unlimited, which owns the stadium in Albany, have come together to provide the free healthy lunches daily to 26 schools in Henderson, Massey, Ōrākei and Maungakiekie-Tāmaki.

The stadium’s full production-sized kitchen was a big investment but was “hardly” used during the week, Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said.

However, the arrangement would see the kitchen used every weekday, producing a stream of revenue for Auckland Council and eliminating some of the burden from ratepayers, in what Goff described as a win-win arrangement.

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Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said the Albany stadium’s kitchen was “hardly” used during the week.

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The arrangement has created employment for 90 people.

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The initiative has also seen the employment of 30 kitchen staff and 60 people to serve the meals at schools.

The Government will foot the bill for the free school lunch programme. (First published in May 2020)

“We strongly support the government’s school lunch programme because it provides free, healthy lunches to kids going to school with the highest levels of disadvantage,” Goff said.

“These lunches really support children’s’ learning. It’s hard to learn when you’ve got an empty stomach.”

According to the Ministry of Education, about one in five children live in homes that struggle to provide them with enough good-quality food.

Forty per cent of parents in low socio-economic communities sometimes or often run out of food.

The Government’s Ka Ora, Ka Ako (live, learn) programme has served more than eight million lunches to children at 542 schools, while creating about 942 jobs.

The lunches served will be kai karakara (colourful food) with high nutritional value and low sugar content, according to James Kafanelis, executive general manager of facilities services and utilities at Downer, which owns Spotless.

“We’re committed to doing a great job for these schools, and to have the opportunity to employ people from these communities.”

Auckland Unlimited chief executive Nick Hill said it was rewarding to see the “underutilised” North Harbour Stadium kitchen put to good use.

“The school lunches programme is an exciting and much-needed contribution to health, vitality and educational outcomes for students across Auckland.

“This aptly demonstrates what is possible when we rethink how we can create value for Auckland out of assets like our stadiums; and fulfil our goal to enrich both cultural and economic life in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.”