Today in History

1967 End of free school milk

Free milk for children in schools started in 1937. This was part of the first Labour government’s plans to boost the health and welfare of young New Zealanders (and to use some of the surplus milk supply).

The scheme was a world first. Each day, milk monitors supplied half a pint of milk to each pupil. By 1940, the milk was available to over 80% of schoolchildren. For a few years during the Second World War, pupils also received an apple a day.

The scheme lasted until 1967 when the government dropped it owing to cost — and because some people were starting to question the benefits of milk.

In the 30 years of the scheme’s existence, thousands of Kiwi kids had gulped down their daily ration of milk. School milk bottles in the 1950s had cardboard tops which had a small hole for the straw. Not everyone enjoyed it. In the days before fridges and chillers, nothing was worse, some people remember, than the taste and smell of warm, fetid milk. 

Image: school boys delivering milk, 1941