The free school lunch provided at one North Island school had parents wondering what it was. Photo / Supplied
A mother has shared a photo of her daughter's supplied school lunch saying it was so disgusting she couldn't figure out what it was.
The photo, sent to the Herald, appears to be a bread roll with onion, corn, and other fillings wrapped in tinfoil.
"She brought it home and I thought 'if that is what they are getting at school I'm not surprised they are getting thrown out'," said the woman, who didn't want to be named.
"I opened it up and I tried to pull it apart to figure out what it was.
''I couldn't even get the bun apart. I'm still not sure if it was a sandwich or a burger. It was really disgusting."
The lunch was served at school two weeks ago.
"My daughter ended up with her friend's lunch as well because she wouldn't eat it either.
"It was pretty disgusting so I took a photo and threw it out."
The teenage girl is at a central North Island school where lunches, fruit and milk are supplied.
The mother contacted the school and the office of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and emailed the photo to them.
"I heard back from Jacinda's people straight away and they said it wasn't acceptable and they would look into it."
The woman was also told to email the Ministry of Education which she did.
"I got an email back from them and even they couldn't figure out what it was. I haven't heard anything back since."
The email from the ministry read: "We have scaled up the monitoring of the supplier to your daughter's school as a result of your feedback, and will be working with the supplier to understand what quality control processes they currently have in place, and what they need to implement to improve their provision.
"If we do not see adequate improvement in the lunch quality this term we will look to a formal improvement process as a next step."
Yesterday the Herald revealed the staggering amount of food thrown out each day because of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches programme.
Individual suppliers are contracted by schools that are part of the programme.
In July 2020, the Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund (CRRF) was tapped for $216 million, to expand the school lunch programme from a pilot scheme.
In 2021, a further $515.8m was allocated from CRRF to extend the provision of free school lunches until the end of 2023.
One Northland parent said lunches were hit and miss with children describing lunches as 'gross, stale, soggy, dry and tasting yuck'.
This was no surprise to the central North Island mum who said she had started packing lunch for her daughter again because the meals were so bad.
"I just give her a sandwich, some home baking and some chips or crackers because they get fruit at school.
"At least I know she will eat it rather than go hungry because of the lunches in schools."
According to the Ministry of Education website the Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches funds a million lunches each week.
In the two years to August 2022 more than 63 million lunches have been delivered in 950 schools and kura to over 220,000 learners.
Some schools have opted out of the programme and some supply their own lunches prepared on site.
For many, the programme has been a huge success - depending on the contracted supplier.
Principals at those schools said pupils are more focussed, settled and enjoy bonding over the same lunch.
Leftover lunches were shared with the immediate community and whanau of pupils.
Rachel King who owns lunch provider, Kainui Brunch Shack, said success was about providing a choice and variety and listening to what the children wanted.
Parents from the two schools she provides lunches to can go online the night before and choose what lunches they wanted.
The food boxes arrived the next day with food ranging from wraps, sandwiches, a hot meal, and always a muffin or baking, fresh fruit, and either milk or water.
"The kids can choose what they want and if there is something they don't like there are other options," King said.
King said the lunches are tasty and nutritious and she sources much of her produce from local growers, a marae, and suppliers at the Māngere Markets.