School food programs in Waterloo Region feeling the pinch with rising food costs

Waterloo Region's Nutrition for Learning said that rising food costs are affecting their ability to serve the youth they support. The organization offers a number of nutrition programs for students in the region from kindergarten to Grade 12. 

Executive director O'neil Edwards says they can stretch one dollar to five through their "procurement arm," but with current food costs rising, they're still feeling the pinch as they purchase food themselves using the funding and financial donations they receive.

"If something costs like $1.25, it's now costing $4.25," he said. "It's unbelievable. It's not like it's fifty cents it went up, we're talking 200 per cent, 300 per cent."

Nutrition for Learning is in more than 93 per cent of schools in the region, serving more than 80,000 youth, according to Edwards. In 2021, he said that 2,000,000 meals were served.  

Edwards said that food insecurity for youth can have academic implications for students, and influence mental health. And the demand for Nutrition for Learning's services is growing.

"More students are taking more food," said Edwards. "More students are feeling that there's a need."

The demand for single-serving options have gone up by 90 per cent over the last school year, Edwards said. 

Food banks in Ontario are also seeing a spike in demand, according to Feed Ontario. They were visited over 50 per cent more often during the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2019. 

Also, more than 500,000 children and adults used them between 2020 and 2021, which is 10 per cent more than the previous year.  

Keeping up with demand

Nutrition for Learning is having to "juggle" their food stock to keep up with demand.

"A school might order, say, six cases of applesauce and we could only get them four because we want to be able to also give the other school," said Edwards. 

"We're always behind a little bit in that regard, but we make sure no school goes without and it might mean that you don't get your full allotment where you could save a little bit, but we'll be there next week."

He also attributed the shortage to supply chain issues, saying deliveries sometimes take four times longer than usual. 

One solution for the issue is pre-ordering larger quantities of foods that have a longer shelf life, like applesauce. He said that they're able to get it cheaper, and can store it longer.

Nutrition for Learning programs are partially supported through government funding, but the majority of it comes from financial donations from individuals and corporations.