Huntly school the first to suspend David Seymour’s revamped lunch programme

Thursday, 13 March 2025

David Seymour says pulling the school lunch contract now would be 'the worst thing to do,' believing the issues have been fixed and improvements are on the way.

A Huntly school has suspended the Government’s school lunch programme, blaming the quality of the food.

Kimihia School principal Pamela Dunn said the lunches were “substandard” and would be suspended until further notice.

It is the first school to suspend the revamped lunch programme.

A Huntly school has become the first to suspend the Government’s revamped school lunch programme due to what it says is the “substandard quality of the meals”.

In a social media post, the principal of Kimihia School Pamela Dunn said the lunches would be suspended from Friday until further notice.

“This decision comes after careful consideration of the substandard quality of meals provided during this term,” Dunn said.

Instead, the school is now asking parents to ensure students bring their own lunches to school. They recommended options such as sandwiches, muffins, and other “nutritious” foods.

The Government’s school lunches programme has come under fire due to the quality.

Dunn advised parents to avoid “packet foods” that she said may not provide the “necessary nourishment”.

“I understand the inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience and understanding,” she said.

Chris Hipkins questions Christopher Luxon in parliament about the government's handling of the school lunch programme, raising concerns over late deliveries, poor-quality food, and reports of children being hurt by exploding lunches.

Responding to the news, the minister responsible for the school lunch programme, David Seymour, told Stuff he respected the school’s decision.

“It’s never been mandatory to accept the Healthy School Lunch programme, so I respect their choice,” he said.

Labour’s education spokesperson, Willow-Jean Prime, said she had a lot of sympathy for the school

“They’ve had no other choice but to opt out of free lunches for their students because of how awful and potentially harmful they are, had they arrived at all,” Prime said.

The school lunch programme has faced heavy criticism.

“We said it from the start - it was going to be our children who would pay the price for David Seymour’s botched school lunches programme. It’s a sad reality that some children may now go hungry and struggle in class because of his choices and the prime minister’s inability to step in.”

Meanwhile, the Education Ministry said they have reached out to Kimihia School to confirm whether the school’s was the result of consultation with the school community and had the approval of the Board of Trustees.

In a statement, a spokesperson told Stuff that participation in the school lunch programme is optional, but schools also have the flexibility to manage the number of meals they receive.

The ministry said they would encourage the school to consult with parents to determine how many lunches they need, and that no child should be excluded from receiving a lunch if they choose to participate in the programme.

The Government has continued to face criticism about the standard and reliability of the lunches being provided through the new programme.

On Tuesday, one of the programme’s providers, Libelle, went into liquidation, while last week a child was burned after the hot contents of a lunch spilled on his leg.

The programme has also been beset by problems with lunches not arriving on time, and sometimes not at all.

The School Lunch Collective said it delivered 116,483 meals to 450 schools on Wednesday, but 9.96% of the meals were not on time.

This week the collective had to turn to Australia to ensure it had enough meals, due to the liquidation of Libelle.

The Government has maintained the collective will continue to supply the 466 schools covered by its contract on time and in full.