At lunchtime at Elizabeth Street Primary School in Moe, students line up for a chicken pasta bake or tuna and salad rolls, with volunteers encouraging them to stack their plates high. The meals are part of a new pilot program called Spoonfull, run by the charity Eat Up, which offers a daily universal meal to all students at participating schools.
Student Victoria said she loves the food, citing lasagne, butter chicken and wraps as favorites. "They give options to us that if we don't like a food, then we can just try it," she said.
The program was officially launched at the school's purpose-built Hearts and Hands Learning Kitchen, following strong lobbying by wellbeing officer Carol O'Reilly, who had run the school's breakfast club for 17 years. "I could see a need," she said. "Kids are coming in without sandwiches." Now, she says, "they're going out for recess with a full belly."
Principal Ian Frost said the program had improved student wellbeing, learning outcomes and academic performance. "I think it's a very respectful way of helping them to be their best self," he said.
Eat Up has operated for 15 years, delivering more than 6 million free on-demand school lunches to children experiencing food insecurity. Founder Lyndon Galea said Spoonfull builds on that model to offer something more sustainable for schools long-term. "This is different to our core model, [where] we have on-demand lunches, in terms of the cheese sandwiches, yoghurts and recess snacks," he said. "We've learnt of certain schools where there's perhaps a higher number of kids arriving without food."