Towards a National School Food Program in
Canada
About the Project
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Co-creating an Inclusive and Caring National School Food Program in Canada
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Funding: Partnership Engage Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
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Overview of the Project
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Universally accessible school food programs are opportunities to provide all children attending publicly funded schools with healthy food. Beyond responding to the immediate need for food support, such programs can promote food literacy, improve the nutritional quality of school food, teach children about cultural diversity, support local food producers, and promote the role of local food in connection to agriculture and the environment. Canada was the only G7 country without a national school food program. In April 2024, however, the Government of Canada committed $1 billion over 5 years to partner with provinces/territories/Indigenous First Nations, Inuit and Metis governments to develop a National School Food Program. And in June 2024 it released the National School Food Policy. With this rollout we now need to begin envisioning what a national school food program could look like and what principles it should incorporate.
We are partnered with The Coalition for Healthy School Food, an organization that has been advocating for a federally funded, universally accessible school food program since 2016. With the potential to create a school food program, we are exploring questions about how a school food program could be organized, offered, and financed. The voices of stakeholders such as families and educators should be central to this planning process. To hear diverse perspectives on what a national school food program could look like, we are committed to learning about what families want from school food programs to improve students' sense of well-being and belonging. We want to know about culturally appropriate foods that reflect families' identities and celebrate their traditions as well as their insights into the presence of caring adults in the delivery of school nutrition programs.
Please see preliminary findings in the study report.
We are partnered with The Coalition for Healthy School Food, an organization that has been advocating for a federally funded, universally accessible school food program since 2016. With the potential to create a school food program, we are exploring questions about how a school food program could be organized, offered, and financed. The voices of stakeholders such as families and educators should be central to this planning process. To hear diverse perspectives on what a national school food program could look like, we are committed to learning about what families want from school food programs to improve students' sense of well-being and belonging. We want to know about culturally appropriate foods that reflect families' identities and celebrate their traditions as well as their insights into the presence of caring adults in the delivery of school nutrition programs.
Please see preliminary findings in the study report.
