Wairoa schools’ lunch success: Students enjoy fresh, local meals

Chops and coleslaw is one of the many meals made on-site for students of Tiaho School. Photo / Lisa Grant

• Students at Wairoa schools are enjoying fresh, healthy lunches.
• Tīaho Primary employs a chef for on-site meals, with a budget of $4.50 per meal.
• Wairoa Primary receives lunches from Rocket Cafe, with students saying they’re happy with the service.

Two Wairoa school principals say their students are loving the lunches they’re being served, rather than sending them to pig buckets like they have been up the road in Nūhaka.

Lisa Grant, principal of Tīaho Primary School, says her school currently operates on the Ministry of Education’s internal model of school lunches, where she employs a chef to create meals for the students, rather than having meals cooked off-site and shipped in.

According to the ministry, schools choose whether to go with internally or externally supplied meals. Lunches are made internally at 270 schools with their own kitchen in NZ, while 61 schools have an iwi/hapū model for lunch supply.

“To do this we had to gussy up our old canteen and make it a commercial kitchen, which ... we invested some money into,” Grant says.

Grant says her students are “flourishing” as a result.

“They love their lunches now,” she said.

“They didn’t at the start, it was a bit tricky – we call them our chicken and chips kids, they’re used to having chicken and chips all the time.

“For them this programme has been awesome in introducing new tastes and textures ... which they’ve slowly come around to.”

Under the external school lunch model, each meal is budgeted to $3, whereas each meal on the internal model is budgeted to $4.

“Because we had a bit in the reserves from last year, we’re doing $4.50 [per meal] at the moment,” Grant said.

“We’re sitting pretty with that and it means our kids eat really, really well.”

Students of Tiaho enjoy freshly made sandwiches for lunch that were made at the school by a hired chef. Photo / Lisa Grant

Chops and coleslaw is one of the many meals made on-site for students of Tīaho School. Photo / Lisa Grant

Grants says her students have so far been served up sandwiches and wraps, mac and cheese, burgers, sliders, and other healthy meal options.

“Whatever is fresh and seasonal we serve,” she says.

Grant says currently the kids really “enjoy the meals”, there’s typically enough for seconds, and there’s minimal food waste.

“We all eat together as a school in the hall and the kids dish out as well and serve and its part of their responsibilities and they’re loving it.”

Down the road from Tīaho School, Wairoa Primary School is on the external model, but the kids receive their lunches from Rocket Cafe in Mahia.

Principal Richard Lambert says he has surveyed students and they are happy with “every aspect” of their school lunches.

“We’re pleased where things are for us and just very happy we still have a local person that we can contact who daily is touching base around the delivery, letting us know what is coming up, letting us know when things will be changing,” he said.

“We don’t have that nationwide issue that seems to be going on.

“We’re hoping it can continue.”

Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and spent the past 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier. He reports on all stories relevant to residents of the region.