Federal food program 'fantastic' but students need more: advocate

The federal government's new national school food program is a great first step toward meeting the nutritional needs of Toronto's children but is not enough to solve student hunger, a local advocate for student nutrition says.

On Monday, the federal government announced plans to launch a $1 billion national food program, hoping to deliver meals to 400,000 students annually by the 2024-2025 school year.

"It's a fantastic start, but there's more work to be done," said Catherine Parsonage, CEO of the Toronto Foundation for Student Success. The non-profit organization provides student nutrition programs to English, Catholic and French school boards citywide. 

Parsonage says they feed meals to roughly 240,000 students across Toronto, with that number having grown by 14,000 children so far this year. 

She says the city's student nutrition programs are in a dire state as they navigate higher food costs, shrinking quantities and increased student need. 

"It's heartbreaking when programs cannot nourish the children the way they need it to, when all they can offer is maybe two carrot sticks and a cracker," she said. 

The federal program will help support Toronto families amidst the rising cost of living, said John Wujek, executive director of the Angel Foundation for Learning, a charity supporting the Toronto Catholic District School Board. 

The foundation partners with the Toronto Foundation for Student Success to deliver student nutritional programs to Toronto's Catholic schools. About 61,000 students receive meals from the foundation every day, Wujek said. 

"If we are fighting that hunger gap, students are learning along the way," he said.

While Parsonage said she celebrated after the federal announcement, she says the planned national program will not meet student demand alone.

Municipal and provincial support, as well as support from donors, parents and corporate partners, will be needed to adequately sustain student nutrition programs, she said. 

Though the government has said its planning for the program to start operating during the 2024-25 school year, Parsonage says she hopes it can be enacted in time for the next school year, starting this September. 

"Let's go fast," she said. "Kids can't wait." 

'We're very lucky to have this': teacher

On Wednesday, at St. John XXIII Catholic School in North York, all 470 elementary students were given a cantaloupe slice, breadstick and yogurt tube for their daily morning breakfast break. 

Baheya Kass-Barsoum has been a volunteer food coordinator at the school since 2012. She arrives at 8 a.m. to prepare the snacks. She portions them into bins to go to each classroom with the help of volunteers like Grade 8 student Sean Mendoza, who has been volunteering with the school's nutrition program for nearly a year, since last May. 

The program aims to provide whole grain foods, as well as dairy and fresh fruit and vegetables. 

Mendoza stacks the snack bins on a rolling cart that he takes around the school, often carrying four or five bins at a time to deliver to classrooms upstairs.

Teacher Laura Cross says the nutrition program is a "privilege" for the school. 

"The difference when kids have breakfast in the morning [versus] when they don't is evident in their learning, in their attitude, in their tiredness," she said.  

"We're very lucky to have this here." 

The morning breakfast break is also a moment for students in a Grade 5 classroom to socialise. 

Student Ben Alcala said the school nutrition program is fantastic and "could help a lot of students in need."

"Sometimes I'm really late and I don't get to eat a lot," said Santiago Cogollo, another student. "And then I come here and I'm not hungry anymore, because I have the snack." 

Student Nico Pineda says he's grateful for the program. 

"If I don't have breakfast, I'll be very hungry and I can't focus on my work," he said. 

As the program's longtime coordinator, Kass-Barsoum, who moved to Toronto from Syria in 2010, says she enjoys contributing positively to her community through her volunteer position. 

"When you see the smile of the kids… that's my pleasure," she said.