Vegemite, honey banned from Victorian student breakfasts until Education Minister intervenes
VEGEMITE and honey were banned from a government schoolkids breakfast program for being too unhealthy. Here’s what happened when the Education Minister intervened.
Education
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VEGEMITE and honey were banned from the government’s school kids breakfast programs for being too unhealthy.
Foodbank’s breakfast clubs were able to supply the spreads to primary school kids, but the Department of Education and Training prohibited them because they didn’t meet the green health rating.
Education Minister James Merlino has stepped in, overturning his department’s “unnecessary rule” to ensure Victoria’s students have the chance to be happy little Vegemites.
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“Every day, children right across our country sit down to Vegemite or honey on toast for breakfast,” Mr Merlino said.
“It just doesn’t make sense to not provide this as a breakfast option in our breakfast clubs when it is readily available.”
The program provides 50,000 breakfasts to 500 disadvantaged Victorian schools every week to ensure kids don’t enter the classroom hungry.
Supplied foods include cereals, milk, baked beans, canned fruit and apples, while schools are called on to buy or seek donated fresh bread.
Because of the Vegemite and honey ban, some schools bought the spreads themselves or relied on parents to bring them in, even though the breakfast clubs had the ability to supply them.
St Albans Meadows Primary School principal Stephen Crockford, who was buying the spreads, said “any assistance is greatly appreciated”.
“I grew up on Vegemite,” said Mr Crockford, who was “very happy” it would now be made available to put a rose in every cheek of his students.
Foodbank Victoria chief executive Dave McNamara said despite running for two and a half years, the program was only on Monday given the green light to supply the spreads after Mr Merlino’s intervention.
“Anything that helps us feed more kids so they have a full belly before they begin the learning process, that’s a win,” he said.
“We’re trying to encourage kids to eat breakfast and the way to do that is give them food they are familiar with.”
He expected pallets of Vegemite and honey to be made available to schools by the beginning of next term.
Dietitians Association of Australia spokeswoman Melanie McGrice said while Vegemite and honey had a high salt and natural sugar content respectively, students “are not going to be having very much if it’s spread on toast”.
“I think the most important thing is they’re having breakfast, so if having a little honey or Vegemite means they enjoy breakfast, I’d rather see that than them go without,” she said.
The $13.7 million breakfast program has been running since 2016 with teachers reporting improvements in students’ concentration, attendance and relationships.
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