Quinoa and mung bean sandwiches are "woke", National MP Paul Goldsmith has declared, following news of the coalition Government's overhaul of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches Programme earlier this week.
On Wednesday, it was announced the Government had cut about $107 million from the scheme, with a portion of the savings to go towards providing food for 10,000 children aged two to five at low-equity, not-for-profit, community-based early learning services.
The 235,000 pupils at low and middle-income schools will continue to receive free lunches under Ka Ora, Ka Ako, Associate Education Minister David Seymour confirmed, although intermediate and high school students will have the option to opt-out.
What's on the menu will also be overhauled, Seymour said - meaning it's out with the couscous and quinoa, and in with the sandwiches and fruits.
The Government will be purchasing the meals in bulk to cut costs, with the new model budgeting $3 a meal as opposed to around $8.
However, headlines around the switch-up also focused on the wording of a post to X by Seymour's ACT Party, which referred to foods such as sushi and quinoa as "woke".
"We just saved you $107 million on school lunches. Despite the shrieking from the left, we're not cancelling the programme," the tweet read on Wednesday.
"We'll be doing more with less money to feed kids the fruit and sandwiches their parents would, not woke food like quinoa and sushi. Bon appétit."
"If you don't get that sushi's woke, I don't know how to wake you up," Seymour doubled down to a reporter.
During the political panel on AM on Friday, co-host Lloyd Burr broached the subject with Goldsmith, Media and Communications Minister, and Labour MP Willie Jackson by having a box of sushi brought in and set on the table.
"Do you think that's woke?" Burr asked Goldsmith, who quickly responded: "I do think quinoa sandwiches are woke - there was a bit of that early on [in the programme].
"I visited many of the schools early on and there was a lot of waste, because there were a lot of mung bean salads and things like that," he continued, to laughter from Jackson.
"When I was a kid, it was a marmite and chip [sandwich], that was what you wanted, sometimes peanut butter and jelly - you want the basics. I think that's a fair point."
Joining in on the joke, Burr asked: "I don't think I've ever heard of a mung bean sandwich - are they actually serving that?"
"They had all sorts of weird and wonderful things at the start - they'd have ground eggplant sandwiches and things like that, terrible stuff," Goldsmith said.
"It's a new generation of kids, they're all into this sort of stuff," Jackson chimed in, gesturing to the sushi.
"The ACT Party is the most miserable, useless party around and Seymour will try to strip every cent - we could've got more for the dollar, but at least some of what we put in place is still in place," he added.
The Government will be funnelling $478 million of funding into the overhauled school lunch programme, with an addition over the next two years.
Chief executive and co-founder of KidsCan Charitable Trust Julie Chapman said on average, the charity can provide a good meal for $2 and a range of breakfast, lunch and snack items for schools.
Watch the panel above.
