Kinder students at Richardson Primary School started their school day on Tuesday morning by tucking into fruit and yogurt.
The Tuggeranong school is one of five ACT public schools trialling a free meals program where students will get a free breakfast and lunch three days per week.
The pilot program was first announced as an election commitment for the 2020 territory election and has faced several delays before finally starting in schools this term.
The cost of the one-year pilot has blown out from the initial estimated cost of $700,000 to almost $4 million.
The program was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and was set to begin in term 3, 2023.
However, Education Minister Yvette Berry said the original pilot was "too bespoke" and not practical to roll out across several schools, leading to a further delay to July 2024.
"We know that Canberrans are facing cost-of-living crisis, and that can be for a range of different circumstances, but we also don't want this to be a stigmatisation of young people who are experiencing financial difficulty at home," Ms Berry said.
"So we want every child to be able to have access to the food. It's not compulsory, you don't have to eat what's on offer, but it's available for children so that they have a full stomach and are ready to learn."
Ms Berry said the pilot would examine the suitability of the model and the cost and feasibility of rolling it out to all public schools in the ACT.
The schools involved in the trial are Gilmore Primary, Richardson Primary, Narrabundah Early Childhood School, Gold Creek School's senior campus (years 7 to 10 students) and Melba Copland Secondary School college campus (years 10 to 12).
The food is being prepared and delivered to the schools by Embrace Disability Group, a hospitality business which trains and employs people with a disability.
About 9600 meals per week will be delivered across the five schools with a menu to cater to various food allergies and dietary requirements.
Embrace catering and hospitality manager Matt Morrissey said menus included yogurt cups, fruit, vegetable sticks, pikelets, savoury muffins, sandwiches, wraps and hash brown and egg parcels.
"We've created a menu that we believe is going to be suitable for both primary age and secondary age students," Mr Morrissey said.
"And there's got to be enough balance in there as well. We want to make sure that the students are not only eating fresh, nutritious food, but it's also food that they are readily wanting to receive and eat."
He said the program would enable Embrace Disability Group to employ a further 15-20 people with disabilities. The organisation manages the school canteen at Jerrabomberra High School.
ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Associations executive officer Veronica Elliott said parents were keen to know how the free meal program would work.
"It's been a bit of journey and a wait. But we know that there are lots of public schools in the ACT that don't have a food service like a canteen and so we're interested to see what this will look like," Ms Elliott said.
"We know our P&Cs are the largest provider of food services in schools with around 30 services and the feedback from those P&Cs is that it is an increasing challenge to continue operation."
Richardson Primary School principal Anna Wilson said the new program would provide some relief for parents in the face of rising grocery costs.
"We already run a breakfast club at our school so it's going to complement what is already in place here," Ms Wilson said.
"What it also means is that for three days a week, so Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, our students will receive three very nutritious meals a day, so they have a breakfast opportunity, they have a lunch opportunity and a recess."
The pilot will run until July 2025.
