Why Canada needs a national school food program

‘The kids are our future’
Under a national school feeding program, parents would contribute to the best of their ability. Families who can afford it would pay the full cost of meals, which are often cheaper than buying groceries to prepare a breakfast or lunch at home. Parents would be encouraged to volunteer.

Most importantly, each community group would iron out the details of the program itself, sticking to the wisdom that communities know what’s best. “Every community has different strengths,” says O’Connor of the BFL approach that a national program would adopt. “We build on those strengths, help fill in the gaps and don’t presume that we know better about what a community needs than its people.”

Back in Vermilion, Gerri speaks of the swell of community pride that has come out of the hot-lunch program in her school. “We have 90 volunteers and they own our program.” This sense of caring is as nurturing to students as food. Indeed, when kids evaluate BFL programs, volunteer interaction is what they say they appreciate most. “On the receiving end, I see what it does for the kids,” says Gerri, “and the kids are our future.”

National treasure, national disgrace
We’ll admit we’re biased: we think Breakfast for Learning (BFL) is something of a national treasure. That’s because it speaks to the community spirit that is so much a part of Canadian Living Magazine.

BFL was started in 1992 by the editors of Canadian Living Magazine, who were disturbed by a national disgrace: one in six Canadian kids was living in poverty, and almost half of the people who relied on food banks were children. Where do we stand today?

•Child poverty is 11.7 per cent, unchanged from 1989 when the House of Commons voted unanimously to eradicate it by 2000.

•Canada ranks 22 among 26 wealthy nations in terms of the number of children living in poverty.

•A report by Statistics Canada released in May reveals that the average family income among the 10 per cent of families with the lowest incomes fell by 11 per cent from 1989 to 2004.

The progress report for BFL is much brighter. Since its inception, with the help of 30,000 volunteers, it has served more than 1.5 million school-age children in 5,000 communities across Canada. Programs are developed and managed locally by parents, teachers, public-health officials, educators and, in some regions, local governments.

Most of BFL’s funding comes from corporate donations. But executive director Martha O’Connor says that for each dollar it gives to a program, an additional $9 comes from the community, including businesses, local governments and groups, such as the Rotary Club. At present, the federal government does not contribute any money.

Get started
If you want to start a breakfast, lunch or snack program in your community, begin with BFL’s website and talk to other individuals running programs in your area for advice. While you’re at it, write to your MP and tell him or her that you support the Children’s Health and Nutrition Initiative. Your voice will make sure all Canadian school kids
eat healthily.

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