Bolstered by a funding boost, advocates are looking for ways to get more food to schools

Food security advocacy group Food First N.L. says it's clear school food programs in Newfoundland and Labrador need to be improved — but just how to do that isn't as straightforward.

The organization hosted a summit Thursday to come up with ways to use new government funding for school food programs.

"It's a huge, heavy lift to get meals into almost every school in the province but it's also a huge opportunity to do things right from the get-go," said Josh Smee, CEO of Food First N.L. 

The summit is part of a provincewide consultation process led by Food First N.L., called Next Steps for School Meals. The goal is to produce a report of recommendations and guidelines for implementing a school lunch program in the province. 

Earlier this year, the provincial government announced $3 million in the 2024 budget to expand school food programming in all schools with students from pre-kindergarten to Grade 9.

And in April, the federal government announced a national school food program that will invest $1 billion over five years to help provinces expand their programs. 

Smee says the summit's goal was to bring people together from many different sectors, including the government, community and the private sector, to come up with ways to work together to make school food programs more effective. 

Food insecurity in schools

Debbie Field, the national co-ordinator of the Coalition for Healthy School Food — Canada's largest school food network — says many children across Canada, for various reasons, come to school without enough to eat, and school food programs helps ensure they don't go hungry.

"It's impossible to concentrate and learn without eating," said Field. 

Field says a variety of factors contribute to food insecurity in schools, including the child's palate, parents' income and the cost of living. 

Food First N.L. says one in four children in the province live in a food-insecure household — the highest rate of any province — and rural and remote communities are the most food-insecure. Still, Smee says Newfoundland and Labrador is ahead of the curve when it comes to school food.

Newfoundland and Labrador has two of the longest-standing school food programs in the country: the Kids Eat Smart Foundation, which provides free breakfasts at schools, and the School Lunch Association, a charity that provides school lunches. 

One thing that differentiates Newfoundland and Labrador from other provinces, he says, is the ability of leaders from all sectors to work together. 

"We've gotten lucky that there are some really passionate community leaders who've been into school food," said Smee. "It's nice to be able to show some leadership nationally." 

A path forward 

One of the top priorities of the summit is to figure out how to run a pay-what-you-can lunch program in rural communities.

There are many things to consider when implementing a school food program in rural schools, says Smee. Some small schools may not have kitchens, for example, and some communities have cultural differences to consider, like communities with large Indigenous populations. 

Activist and chef Joshna Maharaj said she's thrilled about the government's investment in school food programs. 

Maharaj, the author of Take Back the Tray: Revolutionizing Food in Hospitals, Schools and Other Institutions, hopes the summit will help key players get a better sense of what goes into building a national school food program. 

"There's nothing more important than us really thoughtfully building a good food system for our kids," said Maharaj. 

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