Putting David Seymour’s new school lunches of mince, beans and curry, to the test

Tuesday, 22 October 2024

David Seymour tries a new school lunch prepared by a chef. Seymour praises the meal, giving it a solid 9.5/10 for its great flavours and textures.

Harriette Boucher is a journalist working out of the Press Gallery. She taste-tested the new school lunch menu at Parliament today.

OPINION: Watching Associate Education Minister David Seymour try the new school lunch menu was like watching someone open a present on Christmas Day - and trying their best to express their gratitude.

He told cameras the $3 meal was “one of the best meals I think I’ve ever had.”

Seymour had just sampled the beef rissoles - part of the new menu of foods that participating schools will be serving to students in the new year.

David Seymour gives the thumbs up to the Healthy School Lunches scheme launched in Parliament on Tuesday.

Seymour announced more details of the new school lunch programme today, and did an official tasting of the $3 meals that he’s said will save the taxpayer $130m.

In May, Seymour said the programme would “be feeding kids in schools the fruit and sandwiches their parents would give them, not woke food like quinoa and sushi”.

The new offerings, which Seymour presumably deems “un-woke”, will include chicken katsu, and chickpea curry.

On the tasting menu at Parliament today was butter chicken, meatball pasta, tex-mex mince beef and beans, beef rissoles with mash and gravy, and chickpea curry - just a few of the 20 recipes that Kiwi kids will be eating next year.

Un-woke food - tex-mex mince beef and beans.

Seymour gave the rissoles a 9.5, and the butter chicken a 9.25.

Before trying it, Seymour admitted he had thought, “you know what, David, no matter what it tastes like, you've got to say it's great.”

But apparently he didn’t need to fake it.

“That is so good, like, that was like, it's really good, like, I was sort of, I was prepared to say ‘oh yeah, it's good’, but it actually really is really good,” he said.

And there is reason to believe he was telling the truth, after The Post spoke to the most honest critics of them all, school children.

Primary school students, from left: Sophia, Comien, Mason, and Jack give a bit thumbs up to the lunches.

Taranaki’s Waverley Primary School was in the Beehive on a school trip today, and four year 7 and 8 students put up their hands to try the new lunches that would soon be heading to their school.

Currently, all four students get Pita Pit as part of the lunch programme, but would soon be receiving the $3 lunches.

Sophia said the butter chicken was “really good,” giving it a 9/10, slightly lower than Seymour’s score but still very high praise.

Comien had the minced beef and beans, a dish she said was “pretty good”. She said she would like to have it as her school lunch, and rated it an outstanding 9.5/10.

Mason had the meatball pasta. “Yeah, it’s yum,” he said. e

Mason said he would like to have the pasta as his school lunch, and gave it a solid 7.5/10.

Jack had the chickpea curry which “tastes pretty good”. Jack would also like to have this on his lunch menu, deeming the meal to be an 8.5/10.

All four of the students said they would enjoy the meals more than the current lunch they receive. A rave review.

The Post was impressed with the meals too and while they may have resembled aeroplane food, they tasted halfway decent. We thought the chickpea curry was the best, and rated it a 7.5/10.

And for ACT MP Andrew Hoggard, who had the meatball pasta, the meal was better than his own cooking, he said. Although he preferred a bit more spice to his food, landing on a 7/8 out of 10.