When I ventured onto social media today, I noticed many people were upset over one of the recent election pledges for the upcoming #Queensland State #election

Specifically, one of the parties pledged $1.4 billion to be spent on a free lunch program for all Queensland state primary schools.

#auspol #StateElection #Brisbane #Education #FreeLunch

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Before I continue, I should clarify that I will not be voting for either of the two main parties, the LNP or LNP-lite (the duopoly must be crushed).

Of course, that only shows some removal of personal bias.

So from here on in, personal opinions pushed aside, let us explore the policy & the data.

Yes, the plan has issues—it doesn't go far enough. It should include up to three meals daily for all education levels and groups, private and public, as well as ELCs and OSCH.

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Why should #auspol fund something like this?

It's a simple, effective, and proven high-value #investment that will enhance our kids’ nutrition and diet quality, academic performance, and school attendance and improve our local #economic stability.


Essentially, it is a win-win situation.

It provides a significant return on investment (ROI), benefiting families, local economies and our country for years to come.

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How much return on investment (ROI) are we speaking of?

In its current state, the return expected on the initial $1.4 billion investment would equate to at least $28 billion across several sectors, including kids health, nutrition, education, local economy, social protection & #PublicHealth

However, that ROI could reach $40 billion if it incorporated my suggestions above.

The benefits are described in a little more detail below.

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Starting with #Health & #nutrition:

Providing school meals would improve the overall diet quality of our kids, potentially reducing rates of #anaemia, #obesity, and other health issues (Verguet et al., 2020).

Assuming #auspol continues to destroy public health care, this is desperately needed as it will reduce the load on the overworked medical staff, shorten waiting times and reverse the predictions of reduced lifetime expectancies of younger generations.

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#Education:

Increased school attendance and improved #academic #performance can lead to higher future #earnings

One additional year of education could increase lifetime earnings by up to 9% (Drake et al., 2020).


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Social Protection:

School meals, a non-cash transfer, potentially worth 10-15% of household income in low-income communities (Verguet et al., 2020).

Unfortunately, we know how much the major parties hate giving cash to the
#poor or the #FirstNations

So, at least there would be crossbench support for that anyway. How long did they hold on to the #Indue card?

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Local Economy:

School feeding programs can boost local #agricultural economies by creating demand for locally grown food.

In some countries, every dollar allocated to farm-to-school programs generates an additional $1.30 to $2.60 in local economic activity (Drake et al., 2020).

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A 2020 school lunch trial in Tasmania demonstrated several benefits including
#environmental (Gallegos, 2022):

1. Improved student concentration and behaviour

2. Increased school attendance

3. Reduced food packaging litter

4. High parental support, with 89% willing to pay $3 to $5 for school lunch.

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The average food cost was $1.91 per student for ingredients, or $4.72, including labour costs.

#Evidence that #SchoolLunch and preferably #UniversalLunch programs have massive potential for an immediate and #CostEffective implementation nationally.

Relieving pressure on the current #CostOfLivingCrisis and so much more

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Drake L, Fernandes M, Aurino E, et al. School Feeding Programs in Middle Childhood and Adolescence. In: Bundy DAP, Silva Nd, Horton S, et al., editors. Child and Adolescent Health and Development. 3rd edition. Washington (DC): The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank; 2017 Nov 20. Chapter 12.

Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK525249/ doi: 10.1596/978-1-4648-0423-6_ch12

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School Feeding Programs in Middle Childhood and Adolescence

Almost every country in the world has a national school feeding program to provide daily snacks or meals to school-attending children and adolescents. The interventions reach an estimated 368 million children and adolescents globally. The total investment in the intervention is projected to be as much as US$75 billion annually (WFP 2013), largely from government budgets.

NCBI Bookshelf

Gallegos, D. (2022, June 28). Feeding children well. The University of Queensland.

https://stories.uq.edu.au/policy-futures/2022/feeding-children-well/index.html

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Feeding Children Well

The importance of school lunches to education, health, and social outcomes, and impact on local food economies.

Verguet, S., Limasalle, P., Chakrabarti, A., Husain, A., Burbano, C., Drake, L., & Bundy, D. A. (2020). The broader economic value of school feeding programs in low-and middle-income countries: Estimating the multi-sectoral returns to public health, human capital, social protection, and the local economy. Frontiers in Public Health, 8, 587046. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.587046

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Frontiers | The Broader Economic Value of School Feeding Programs in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Estimating the Multi-Sectoral Returns to Public Health, Human Capital, Social Protection, and the Local Economy

Introduction: Globally, there are 370 million children receiving school meals every day. Coverage is least in low-income countries, where the need is greates...

Frontiers