Interest-holders’ views of implementing a school lunch program in primary schools within Australia

Purpose To explore interest-holders views on implementing a school lunch program in primary schools within Victoria, Australia. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative data were collected through one-on-one semi-structured interviews. Interest-holders were purposefully recruited from a range of organisations with an interest in healthy school lunches and meal provision in Australian primary schools, and snowball sampling was utilised to identify other potential participants. Interviews were conducted via Zoom, audio/video recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. Findings Twenty-one Interest-holders were interviewed. Three themes were identified 1) perceptions of the current school food and eating environment; 2) the conceptual implementation of a school lunch program (SLP) and 3) perceived challenges and considerations of implementing an SLP. Many benefits and opportunities to implementing an SLP were reported: food security and accessibility, convenience for families, food exposure and acceptance, nutritional benefits, health promotion, increased food and nutrition knowledge, and skill development. Catering to children's dietary requirements and food preferences was perceived as a significant challenge that could potentially lead to issues, including food waste, increased costs and resistance from families. Interest-holders also expressed concerns about the nutritional quality of meals, due to cost and the lack of enforced and monitored healthy eating policies and guidelines for school meal provision within Australia. Originality/value Interest-holders acknowledge the significant benefits of a school lunch program in Victorian primary schools; however, many challenges and considerations were raised surrounding the implementation, feasibility and sustainability of a large-scale program. Gradual changes and program adaptability were suggested as strategies to decrease hesitance from families and school staff.