In 2019, the New Zealand government launched a two-year initiative to explore delivering a free and nutritious daily school lunch to Year 1–8 (primary and intermediate aged) students in around 120 schools in communities facing a greater socio-economic burden. The programme started providing meals to 20,000 students a day across three regions, but due to rising food insecurity stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the programme was rolled out nationwide in late 2020 and early 2021. As of 2022, the programme provides meals to about 220,000 students per day, in about 40% of New Zealand schools. School lunches are one of the prime minister’s initiatives as part of the COVID-19 pandemic response, with current funding set to end in December 2023.
Nutrition standards for the school lunch programme have now been developed for implementation in 2023 and will be compulsory for all school food suppliers and schools making their own lunches. The new standards replace the previous guidelines and aim to assist lunch providers in offering nutritious and balanced menus, building on lessons learned from the implementation of the interim guidance over the previous two years. The compulsory standards are specifically for school lunches and do not apply to other meals or food served at schools such as canteens and tuck shops: these are covered by the Ministry of Health’s Healthy Food and Drink Guidance – Schools.
The main characteristics of these standards are summarized below:
| Users of the guidance | - Food service providers
- Caterers, food handlers
- School administrators
|
| School food covered | Meals supplied/provided as part of the school lunch programme |
| Objectives | to reduce food insecurity by providing access to a nutritious lunch in school every day |
| Basis | Food-based |
| Food groups covered | Vegetables, grain foods and starchy vegetables, protein, milk and milk products |
Development process
The new standards were developed by the Ministry of Education in consultation with the Ministry of Health, lunch providers, schools and nutrition stakeholders. The standards take a practical approach to providing a varied and balanced lunch using the choice of food products available on the wider New Zealand market. As such, the development process for these standards had more focus on supplier engagement and involved modelling around product availability. Feedback from schools and suppliers on the previous guidelines was also incorporated, and there is a summary of changes between the guidance and the new standards. The standards are informed by the Ministry of Health’s Healthy Food and Drink Guidance – Schools, tailored to the unique context of the Healthy School Lunches Programme (Ka Ora, Ka Ako).
Implementation
The new standards are being phased in to support lunch providers in understanding the changes and revising their menus, with the provision of information, guidance and online training sessions. The new standards will be introduced from February 2023, (Term 1) with lunch providers gradually adapting menus and incorporating any new ingredients and foods, for full integration from the start of Term 2, 2023. School lunch suppliers must submit menus to the school lunches nutrition team within the Ministry of Education for analysis against the standards. The team then provides support with menu recommendations to enable compliance.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The Ministry of Education is also the entity responsible for ensuring standard compliance for the school lunches programme. Monitoring takes place in two ways: via the suppliers’ submission of menus and contractual requirements to meet standards; and through meal assessments for quality (and quantity) assurance and to check adherence with standards, which may result in a formal improvement plan for suppliers to rectify the situation. A nutrition evaluation of the school lunches programme is being finalized.
A summary of the standards includes the following:
Offer a variety of healthy foods from the four food groups
- plenty of vegetables and fruit
- grain foods, mostly wholegrain and those naturally high in fibre
- milk and milk products, mostly low and reduced fat
- legumes, nuts, seeds, fish and other seafood, eggs, poultry (eg, chicken) and/or red meat with fat removed.
Food should be prepared with or contain minimal saturated fat, salt (sodium) and added sugar, and should be mostly whole or less processed.
This means:
- foods containing moderate amounts of saturated fat, salt and/or added sugar may be available in small portions (eg, some baked goods)
- no deep-fried foods
- no confectionery (eg, sweets and chocolate).
Offer only water and unflavoured milk as drink options.
This means:
- no sugar-sweetened drinks
- no drinks containing ‘intense’ (artificial) sweeteners
- no fruit or vegetable juices (including 100 percent juice, no-added-sugar varieties).
There are five main standards that you need to consider when creating your menu.
Additional meal components are other food items that may be included in meals. They do not have minimum weight requirements but do count towards the total meal weight.
Compulsory meal components need to be included in every lunch in amounts that meet at least the minimum weight requirements set out in the Standards.
Weekly menu requirements state the number of times per week you can serve ‘amber’ processed meats and baked items.
Total minimum meal weights are set for each school year group as a bare minimum standard. The appropriate meal size needed for a student to feel full will vary based on how filling the foods are in any given meal. You will need to consider this in menu planning and adjust meal sizes based
on student feedback.
The maximum weight allowance for amber items. The Standards classify foods as green, amber and red to reflect how nutritious they are. Meals have a maximum weight allowance for ‘amber’ foods so that menus are mostly made up of healthier ‘green’ foods.
