All three levels of government are being called on to establish a national food program for students in underfunded communities.
As food prices rise, a call is underway for all levels of government to fund a Universal National Nutrition Program to help feed at-risk school children in underfunded communities.
A City of Toronto executive committee is being told to request the Government of Canada to allocate funding to support the program across the nation.
A School Boards Advisory Committee told a City Executive Committee that it should consider establishing new food nutrition programs for students in marginalized priority neighbourhoods.
“City Council request the federal and provincial governments to work with Toronto’s Food Nutrition Program so more children can receive nutritious food at school through a Universal Nutrition Program,” according to the committee.
With the high price of food these days more kids are going to school hungry.
It said a food program last year provided 820 school nutrition programs in 619 communities with some 227,285 meals daily.
The universal meal or snack program is run locally by parents, volunteers and students in public schools. It gives students access to safe, adequate and culturally-appropriate healthy food.
“It is especially important for those at risk for poor nutritional intake,” the committee said. “It supports student learning and development over the school day.”
The programs also creates opportunities for community capacity building, volunteering and job skills development.
With more food, many students don’t have to drop out of school, can pay more attention to classes and it reduces obesity as students eat less junk food.
The committee said the programs increase consumption of healthy foods, reduces obesity, chronic diseases, health disparities and social isolation.
The food increases student attendance in classes; test scores in math, science and reading; attendance and class participation and reduces dropouts.
The program will cost $19.16 million this year, which includes an 8.5 per cent food inflationary increase for 227,000 meals daily.
Some $16.8 million will come from the City, $8.47 million from the province and $2.2 million from the federal government.
A national food program will ensure students all across Canada have something to eat daily and will encourage them to attend classes.
Other funding will be raised from parent and student contributions; community and school board fundraising and corporate donations.
Canada is the only country in the G7 that doesn’t have a national school food program or national standards, according to the Breakfast Club of Canada. That means that while every province has different needs, there isn’t an aligned approach to feeding students across the existing programs.
Researchers say that as high inflation affects food prices, more children need access to these programs but community groups say they need stable funding from the federal government to keep everyone fed.
According to Statistics Canada, one in four Canadian kids experience what’s called “food insecurity;” when a person can’t access a quality diet or enough food, or aren’t certain that they can. Meanwhile, 33 per cent of food bank users in Canada are children, according to Food Banks Canada.