Systems Mapping of the New Zealand Free and Healthy School Lunch Programme: Perspectives from Lunch Providers

Abstract

As part of the COVID-19 economic recovery package, the Aotearoa New Zealand Government rolled out a universal free and healthy lunch programme to the 25% least advantaged schools nationwide. This study explored experiences of school lunch providers in the Hawke’s Bay region. The aim was to create a systems map identifying points of intervention through which the lunch programme could be improved to meet the goal of reducing child food insecurity. Twelve lunch providers were interviewed to generate casual loop diagrams which were examined and integrated to form a single systems map. Seven themes arose during analysis: teacher support, principal support, nutrition guidelines and government support, supply chain, ingredient suppliers, student feedback and food waste. Teacher support was important for getting students to try new foods and eat the nutritious lunches. Principal support was a strong theme impacting opportunities for broader student engagement. This study employed systems science to highlight the importance of support from different stakeholders within the lunch programme to achieve the goal of reduced child food insecurity. Further work is needed to ensure the programme meets the wider goals of the government and community, and to determine the potential broader benefits of the programme.

The common drivers of children and young people’s health and wellbeing across 13 local government areas: a systems view

“…The combination of CLDs, to generate a CLD that represents the core issues that are common across communities provides powerful data to inform decision makers, (such as at state and regional levels of governance), about key determinants and assist in identifying high impact policy responses. An example of the importance of capturing this complexity is a school food study in New Zealand [ 23 ] which interviewed school lunch providers to identify potential intervention points to improve the programme and build a representative CLD. In this study twelve semi-structure interviews were analysed to create CLDs which were collated into one CLD which shows that providing healthy school lunches is driven by interactions between government nutrition policy, supply chain issues, ingredient supplies, school support and student demand [ 23 ].…”

“…An example of the importance of capturing this complexity is a school food study in New Zealand [ 23 ] which interviewed school lunch providers to identify potential intervention points to improve the programme and build a representative CLD. In this study twelve semi-structure interviews were analysed to create CLDs which were collated into one CLD which shows that providing healthy school lunches is driven by interactions between government nutrition policy, supply chain issues, ingredient supplies, school support and student demand [ 23 ]. This insight into what prima facie would appear a simple problem (how do we provide healthy school food) shows the importance of understanding this complexity to optimise potential interventions.…”