New Zealand's right wing politicians currently have an issue with free school meals. They're not supplied everywhere, but are made available in poorer areas where nutrition is a real issue.
In the embedded video, Richard Prebble is being interviewed by Leah Panapa. Prebble is a politician who was part for the Labour government of the 1980's that destroyed the modern post-war NZ economy, while Panapa should know better, but she doesn't as she's ignorant.
Prebble says, 'real facts'. Oh really, he's wrong, the facts are that NZ has always fed its vulnerable children. From the 1930's up until the late 1960's every primary school child in NZ had to drink half a pint of milk each school day. That's about 300ml every day Monday to Friday. Then, across the whole country up until, I think, the 1980's dairy products for human consumption were heavily subsidised. It was cheaper to buy milk and cheese than it was to drink a Coke or Sprite.
Additionally, every mother in New Zealand was paid a sum of money each week to feed their children. They got paid for every child, and this money went to mothers so that fathers didn't spend the money down at the pub.
Then, finally, health camps operated across the country. Children found to be malnourished were taken to these camps and given food and exercise. These health camps operated for most of the twentieth century.
And just think what happens if NZ doesn't feed its vulnerable children. The cost of this is enormous, the country would end up with a segment of uneducated and sickly people. The cheapest way to deal with it is to feed the children at school and put these children in a position where they can learn. A hungry child doesn't learn, it's as simple as that.
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