Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s suggestion of a Marmite sandwich and an apple for lunch wouldn’t keep a child full or feed their brain sufficiently, according to local health and education experts.
“If you’re just doing a Marmite sandwich and an apple, you’re probably not meeting the protein requirements [which depend on age and gender],” paediatric dietician Jenny Douglas explained to RNZ.
“Ideally it would be a Marmite and cheese sandwich at least,” she said, noting that the high salt content of Marmite, which could shape one’s palate, giving a child a taste for salty snacks like pies and chips early on.
What he means is parents should make that sandwich so the unit cost of individual househoulds making one off marmite sandwiches is about as expensive as it could possibly get.
And yes, its better than no lunch but the whole point of the lunch program was (before Seymour enshittified it) to provide one guaranteed healthy & hearty meal a day because we know (and have known for decades) that it improves education & life outcomes.