Please download the petition, sign it, and get your friends to sign it too.

We hope that the petition, and a strong community based and political campaign, will persuade the government to change its mind and reinstate the nutritional guidelines which they repealed earlier this year.  This is important because what children eat affects their health and well-being, and their ability to learn and concentrate in class. So for the sake of our children, please join the campaign to improve the quality of school food; get unhealthy food out of our schools and support gardens in schools.  

This picture shows food sold in a school canteen.  Is this what we want for our children?

• promote healthy food and nutrition for all students; and
• where food and beverages are sold on school premises, make only healthy options available.

These new nutritional guidelines were a positive step towards ensuring that schools provide a safe and healthy environment for children. The healthy food clause meant that New Zealand was leading the way on this issue by providing clear rules on what foods were acceptable and appropriate for children and young people to eat at school.

In February, of this year, the National Party led Government scrapped the directive that school canteens sell healthy food to the children in their care.

There is now NO minimum nutritional standard for school canteens in New Zealand. Schools are now free to sell a staple diet of unhealthy food such as hot dogs, fizzy drinks, chips and donuts, even though this food is proven to contribute to dental disease, obesity and other health problems, and poor behaviour and concentration in the classroom.

National's decision flew in the face of international research showing a clear link between healthy food and positive learning outcomes. At a time when child obesity is on the rise (one in three New Zealand children are obese) the Government's decision seems ludicrous. 

We are now launching a campaign to get the National Administration Guideline (5) reinstated, so that all schools have a policy that ensures the food and drink they sell is healthy and nutritious.

Another positive way for schools to create a healthy food environment is through gardening in schools programmes. We want the government to support primary schools wanting to develop edible gardens and cooking facilities. Gardening in schools programmes give children the opportunity to plant, harvest, cook and eat the food they grow and encourages healthy eating habits and positive life skills. The Green Party has surveyed school tuck shops for the past five years, and the surveys demonstrate that until the school food guidelines were given regulatory force, a majority of school canteens dragged their feet and continued to sell a staple diet of unhealthy food. Schools have an explicit responsibility to look after the children in their care. This includes providing an environment that encourages healthy eating and supports children's learning and well-being. The Government has a responsibility to help schools to do this.

If we are to improve the health and well-being of New Zealanders, we must we start with our children, teach them good eating habits and encourage them to make healthy food choices.  If we don't, we all lose out, in particular our most vulnerable and disadvantaged kids who often don't get the opportunity to experience and enjoy healthy food.