Andrew Dickens: Targeted school lunches is the way to go

Last week as the world puzzled over war and peace and the end of globalisation and rules based free trade, New Zealand was watching the slow-motion train wreck of a free lunch programme.  

David Seymour, a long-term opponent of the idea, was put in charge of it by the Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Which may have been a genius political move but may rebound in his face.  

The Act Leader then reckoned he could centralise it and cut costs until each lunch cost 3 dollars a child.  

But the providers had problems. None more so than Libelle who went bust and we finished the week bringing in lunches from Australia.  

But there was more sting in the tail. 

Long time listener Matt, and long-time opponent of the idea, was incensed by part of a story from last week and sent me an email.  

It was part of the story about a Gisborne kid who got burnt by his school meal.  

But what got Matt is the revelation that the school orders 310 lunches each day.   

But 150 go untouched by the kids who don’t like the look of the offering.  

And some have given up on the school lunches and they’ve started bringing their own meals from home.  

Which is exactly what the parents should have been doing in the first place.  

Matt hates the entitlement of those who took the meals but didn't need them. But I think it’s entirely predictable. Offered a free meal who says no.  

Except it’s not free. Taxpayers pay for it. But some parents will argue that’s them getting their tax back  

Labour thought that if one child goes hungry then all children should be fed which opens this up to exploitation. 

So how do we fix this.  

Help should be targeted. If a kid comes in hungry and empty handed, then they should be helped. 

How about a lunch club. Where the children are offered the chance to make a meal for themselves if they need it. A toasted sandwich or even a marmite sandwich to make the PM happy. 

What’s that Chinese proverb. Give a man a fish then he eats for a day. Teach him how to fish and he feeds himself for a lifetime.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So last week is the world puzzled over war and
peace in the end of globalization and rules based free trade.
New Zealand was wondering about our free lunch program in schools.
David Seymour, a long term opponent of the idea, was
put in charge of it by Prime Minister Christopher Luxan,
which may have been a genius move politically, but this
may rebound in their faces. The act leader reckons he

(00:21):
can centralize it. Well he did and cut costs until
each lunch costs three dollars a child. But then the
providers had problems, none more so than the bell who
went bust. And we finished the week bringing in lunches
from Australia. But there's more sticking in the town that
wasn't covered much. Longtime lister Matt, good morning to your Matt,
and longtime opponent of the whole idea, was incensed by
part of this story from last week and sent me

(00:41):
an email. It was in the story about the Gisman
kid who got burnt by his school lunch. But what
got Matt was the revelation that the school orders three
hundred and ten lunches each day, but at the moment
one hundred and fifty go untouched by the kids who
didn't like the look of the offering. And then the
principal breathlessly reported that some have given up on the
school lunches and they've started bringing their own meals from home,

(01:07):
which is exactly what the parents should have been doing
in the first place. And what Matt hated about that
is the entitlement of those who took the meals but
never needed them. And I think it's entirely predictable. Offered
a free meal, who says no, except it's not free.
You and I pay for it. But some parents will argue, Oh,

(01:27):
that's us getting our tax back. We paid our taxes,
we get a free lunch for Johnny Labor when they
set this up thought that if one child goes hungry,
then all children should be fed, which is why it
got opened up for exploitation. So how do we fix this? Well,
obviously the help should be targeted at the kids who
are hungry, and if a kid comes to school hungry

(01:50):
and empty handed, then they should be helped. So how
do we do that? And I wonder how about a
lunch club where the children who come in without food
and are hungry put their hands up and offered a
chance to make a meal for themselves if they need it.
And maybe they could sit there together and make a

(02:10):
toasted sandwich. Maybe they could make a marmite sandwich and
make the Prime Minister happy, because remember what is that
Chinese proverb? Give a man a fish, then he eats
for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he
feeds himself for a lifetime. Let's teach these kids how
to make their own lunches. For more from Early Edition
with Ryan Bridge, listen live to News Talks it'd be

(02:32):
from five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.