Toronto summer lunch program calls for funding, can't keep up with demand as food prices rise

A non-profit lunch program in Toronto tackling summer food insecurity is seeing demand soar this year and it just can't keep up.

The founder of summerlunch+, Susan Wright, said with the rising food prices and a lack of funding, it's the first time she had to turn people away. 

She said programs addressing food insecurity in the summer are already few and far between.

"Food insecurity is only getting worse," said Wright.

This year, the program had space for 60 families in specific communities like Thorncliffe Park and Alexandra Park but more than 90 families registered online.

"I had families reaching out and saying, 'When can we sign up? We want to get our kids in your program this spring,'" said Wright. 

Wright said she was able to help many families during the pandemic through the federal Emergency Food Security Fund, but that stopped. She said she also applied for a federal grant, but was declined. 

In a statement to CBC Toronto, the province said it is investing an additional $1.1 million into the Students Nutrition Program and First Nations Student Nutrition Program on top of the initial annual investment of $28 million in the SNP and $4.1 million in the FNSP.  

But that doesn't help, said Wright, because SNP is exclusively for students during the school year. 

Wright said she also sent a proposal to the province asking for urgent summer funding to pilot a government-funded summer food program for kids but didn't hear back.

Summer learning loss

Wright said people often forget that families who are food insecure through the school year need help in the summer as well. 

She said because of food insecurity in families, children experience 'summer learning loss," which means falling behind academically because children do not learn new skills, or get the nutrients they need to develop their bodies and minds. 

"That summer learning loss ... adds up to be quite significant. And it's what accounts for a large portion of the academic gap," said Wright.

She said summerlunch+ is successful because it provides food support for a family, and cooking and learning skills for the children, and so parents are eager to sign their children up.

The eight-week program gives children weekly kits with enough ingredients to cook meals for a family of four.

"Kids are doing things like measuring, reading recipes, talking with each other on our classroom platform and and connecting in a positive social way," said Wright. 

Through this model, Wright said the program is able to reduce the stigma of food insecurity because it allows  families to put in the work to make their own food. 

Each weekly meal kit costs $40. It includes 20 servings of food and is sourced from local groceries to meet the dietary needs of the communities, for example, halal food from Iqbal Foods.

Last year, a group of hunger relief organizations said about 30 per cent of food bank clients were under the age of 18. 

Last November, a report by Feed Ontario said 587,000 adults and children visited Ontario's food banks a total of 4.3 million times from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.

"It's anticipated that food prices are going to go up another seven per cent this year," said Wright.

"Vegetables, of all of the food categories, are the most expensive and are going up the most, and those are the things that kids need to eat."

Children giving back to program

After participating in the program for a few years, 14-year-old Faleha Kasim is one of many students who said it's time to give back and spread the word of healthy eating with the community. The Thorncliffe resident is working with the organization to prepare meal kits to give away. 

She said many families in Thorncliffe are struggling and this program has been a saving grace.The program taught her about healthy eating by introducing nutritious meals in her diet. 

She also knows first-hand how much inflation is affecting families in the community.

"It's getting hard for families to provide for their children. And this program was really helpful towards some families..I want it to be more known in the community," said Kasim. 

It's also the third consecutive year Muhammad Waleed put his young teenage kids in the summerlunch+ program.

He said it's teaching his children lifelong skills so they won't have to rely on their parents. It also keeps them away from trouble. 

"It will help them now and in their future," said Waleed, adding that government funding would help many children and families in his community. 

Wright said she already did the leg work to test if the program works, and so with sufficient funding, she would be able to roll out the program in communities across the province.