Greens pledge to restore Ka Ora, Ka Ako and expand school lunches to 400 more schools
The Green Party has pledged to restore the original Ka Ora, Ka Ako school lunch programme and expand it to approximately 400 more schools if it is part of the next government, vowing to fund it permanently through a wealth tax.
Co-leader Marama Davidson said the expansion would ensure 150,000 more children receive a lunch every day. The party would extend the programme to schools with an Equity Index above 450, and restore per-lunch funding to $6.50, compared to the current average cost of $3.58 per meal across all suppliers. (RNZ)
The policy, announced on 19 August 2026, would cost $472 million in 2027/28, rising to $602 million in 2030/31, according to Green Party estimates.
Davidson said the policy would restore the programme so lunches were provided through schools or local providers. She said slashing funding and removing contracts from local providers had cost New Zealanders hundreds of local jobs, left half of meals failing minimum nutritional standards, and increased food waste. The Greens estimate restoring local provision would bring back up to 2,000 jobs, with a further 1,900 created through the expansion. The party has said it would pay for the programme through a wealth tax, which it characterises as a fair tax system. (Green Party)
The current government restructured the school lunch programme, renamed Healthy School Lunches in October, to reduce costs. Associate Education Minister David Seymour said in May that on-time delivery had been running at almost 100 percent every day and complaints had fallen by more than 92 percent. Seymour said $122 million would be saved in 2027 by continuing the programme as-is compared to what it would cost under the old model.
The redesigned programme had early teething issues, including poor meal quality and the liquidation of Auckland-based provider Libelle Group. In this year's Budget, the government extended the programme for another year, with Seymour indicating further changes were likely for 2028 and beyond.
An Auditor-General report found the current model was saving money compared to the previous government's approach, but its performance was not being properly monitored or tracked.
The broader context is a sharp ideological dividing line on programme design. The government has prioritised cost reduction and centralised supply, pointing to delivery reliability and fiscal savings. The Greens are arguing that those savings have come at the expense of nutritional quality, local employment, and food waste, and that a higher per-meal spend through local provision would deliver better outcomes across all three.
The equity-index threshold of 450 represents a technical mechanism for targeting expansion, tying eligibility to socio-economic disadvantage rather than a universal rollout. For parties negotiating after the election, the gap between a $3.58 average cost per meal and a restored $6.50 per lunch is the central fiscal tension, alongside the broader question of whether the programme should remain under its current centralised structure or revert to local and school-based provision.
The Auditor-General's finding on monitoring gaps cuts across both positions. It suggests that whatever model is in place after the election, performance measurement will need attention, as the current system is not generating the data needed to properly track whether the programme is meeting its nutritional and delivery objectives.
The Greens' costing figures will face scrutiny against Treasury baseline estimates during the campaign. The party's proposal to fund the expansion through a wealth tax also signals that the school lunch programme will be drawn into the broader tax-and-spend debate that typically defines election-year fiscal positioning.
