The free lunches scheme may be reduced by the government. Photo: Supplied / Ministry of Education
A poll has been launched to ask children if they support the free school lunches scheme, with voting online and at market booths this weekend.
The government is considering cutting the Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches programme by up to half, saving up to $160m. It currently provides about a million lunches a week to 230,000 students in about 1000 schools.
But children are the group most affected and deserve to have a voice, Save the Children advocacy director Jacqui Southey said.
"Despite being most directly impacted by any changes to Ka Ora, Ka Ako, children have not been meaningfully consulted."
So Save the Children is running an online poll for children and young people to have their say, and a voting booth at the Kids Only Market at Mt Albert in Auckland on Saturday.
They plan to share the results with the government.
Southey said the UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child says children are entitled to be heard.
"We encourage children across New Zealand to get involved - it doesn't matter if you don't receive the healthy school lunches programme, children can still share their views," she said.
"They know what makes it a better lunch or why it's important for them and they can articulate that really well."
What children have already said
Last year Save the Children canvassed more than 1000 young people in their 'children's election'. Among the findings, many said they were concerned about children who didn't have good access to food, and many said they thought the free school lunch programme was a way to address this.
A 13-year-old named Jacob's response said he wanted: "To give school lunches to schools because not many parents are able to provide their kids with lunches".
Children at Arakura Primary School in Lower Hutt lining up for lunch. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
"If mums don't have enough money to buy food kids should be given food anyway. We need food to play, and food helps us learn," 6-year-old Sophie said.
Many of the young people also said they wanted the free school lunches to be tastier and more nutritious.
The Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme - what the adults say
The Ministry of Education who run the free school lunches programme have said about one in five children are from families who struggle to put enough good-quality food on the table, and 40 percent of parents run out of food sometimes or often.
Many educators, schools and child advocates have vocally opposed cuts to the programme, saying it helps attendance, concentration in the classroom, health and addresses growing poverty gaps when some children are going without food at home.
But Associate Minister of Education David Seymour said 10,000 lunches were being wasted each day, amounting to $25 million a year, and reviewing the value of the $325 million per annum programme was the right thing to do.
The programme's current reach is funded until the end of 2024.