Jobs and an initiative feeding extra students in need in Te Puke are threatened by Government changes to its school lunches programme, a charity boss says.

The Daily Charitable Trust won the Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches programme contract for Te Puke in 2020 and supplies eight schools.

By ploughing any profit back into meal provision — and with the help of sponsors such as Zespri, the community and support from Kāhui Ako o Te Puke (community of learning) — the trust has been making additional meals for schools not covered by the scheme.

An initial 60 extra meals a day grew to more than 200 at the peak, in response to community need.

Trust general manager Chrissi Robinson said it would only be contracted to make lunches for Te Puke Primary and Maketū schools in 2025. Other local eligible schools would be catered to by the new School Lunches Collective’s Waikato hub.

The new scheme will be rolled out in term 1 next year and Associate Education Minister David Seymour has said it will provide nutritious meals for $3 apiece — up to about $5 cheaper than before — and save $130 million a year.

The Daily Charitable Trust general manager Chrissi Robinson.

The previous Labour Government had allocated $323.4 million for the scheme this year but nothing beyond that. The current Government allocated $478m to keep the scheme going until the end of 2026.

“Some suppliers in the existing programme will be affected and I appreciate this will be tough. However, the emphasis of the programme is to ensure students get good meals at an affordable cost to the taxpayer,” Seymour said in a statement.

Schools already funded and catering for students between Years 7 and 13 — including full primary schools — will have meals provided by the new collective.

Only funded schools for Year 0-6 pupils will still use other contractors, such as The Daily, and only until the end of 2025, then move to the new model.

Robinson said the changes would hit hard locally.

With 14 staff, the previous contract for 2100 lunches per day was topped up by 200 for unfunded schools in need “by running very efficiently”.

Under the new centralised regime, the trust was only contracted for 372 lunches across two schools in 2025.

“This is an 83% reduction in the numbers we could provide in 2025, only requiring four to five staff.

“As a result, we will have to lay off employees and that has an effect on our community.”

Robinson said the trust understood why some would support cutting the national budget when children would still be fed.

From a local perspective, however, she believe it was “really not a great decision” and would “significantly” reduce the impact of Government money spent in the region.

The new scheme “doesn’t feel like a partnership with our community”, whereas the current system had good community endorsement including from the Kāhui Ako of Te Puke, and Waitaha and Tapuika iwi.

Associate Minister of Education David Seymour samples the menu as he announces changes to the lunches in schools programme. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The trust had delivered “above and beyond the specs of the contract” and understood the nuances of feeding local students “better than anyone”.

Its concerns about the new provision stemmed from four years experience, including the “fine art” of developing a nutritious menu of meals students would actually eat.

“For example, at our local Te Puke High School, there are over 30 ethnicities [represented] with a real variety of palates and dietary requirements.

“The approach that’s promised now is very much a one-size-fits-all approach and when has that ever worked for communities?”

The trust was seeking funding to make the additional 200 meals for students identified as needing them at the four unfunded schools, Te Ranga, Fairhaven, Pongakawa and Paengaroa.

Robinson said recent local research found 35% of parents and caregivers surveyed sometimes ran out of food, with a further 9.6% often or always short.

The trust wanted to work with the community to develop innovative food support models that needed less Government funding.

“We believe that is possible through a community-owned food system.”

The trust was working on that through the Colab Kai Resilience Group alongside Western Bay of Plenty District Council, local businesses like Comvita, organisations like The Hub (Empowerment NZ), Poutiri Trust, educators, and interested individuals.

Te Puke High School principal Alan Liddle

Schools’ reactions

Fairhaven School is one of the unfunded schools receiving meals thanks to the trust’s initiative.

Acting principal Tatai Takuira-Mita said the new regime would have a big impact unless an alternative way to provide meals was found.

“We get 80 free daily lunches and they go to students at our school that need them.

“We are going to have 80 hungry children and that is something I am dreading for next year.

“For some of them, it’s their only hot meal a day and it’s a guaranteed feed, so I am very, very concerned about next year.”

She pleaded for orchard or fruit tree owners to consider donating spare fruit, and for anyone able to donate to consider helping provide lunches for the school.

“Even if we go back to sandwiches and fruit — that would be something.”

Te Puke High and Intermediate schools will receive centrally prepared meals.

Intermediate school principal Jill Weldon was expecting information clarifying how the new system would work this week.

“I am gutted for our local community and people who’ve been employed under the current scenario.

“We’ve been given exceptional service up to this point and it’s hard to imagine how a centrally produced, delivered model could possibly meet our needs in the same way, but until it rolls out I don’t know.”

While grateful to still be funded, she said the trust ensured students had fruit each day and it was a “real shame” the new model did not include this.

Te Puke High School principal Alan Liddle said he had only heard “through the grapevine” that meals would be delivered daily.

He was concerned that a lot of the logistics would fall on the school, which it did not have the “manpower” to cover outside its core business.

He said the trust’s service catered for students’ individual needs and dietary requirements.

Liddle said he could not understand how the new programme could make, package and transport nutritious meals for $3.

“They are talking about cutbacks and, okay, I can hear that, but it hasn’t taken into account all the other community costs that come into it.”

-Te Puke Times.