End of school means end to hot meals for food-insecure students, says St. John's principal
Over 22% of N.L. households are food insecure, research says
While the end of the school year is an exciting time for many students, those who struggle with food insecurity are losing access to what could be their only hot meals of the day, according to a St. John's principal.
Bishop Feild Elementary school was the first in Newfoundland and Labrador to partner with the School Lunch Association, which now operates in over 40 schools, offering hot meals each day to thousands of students each year. Principal Norma Aylward said the program is essential to learning for her students.
"It ensures that these students have the nutrition they need throughout the day to learn. So essentially, we wouldn't be able to function as educators without this food," she said Thursday.
"Our students are excited to see what's on our breakfast table in the morning … and also what is being served for lunch at noon. For some of our students, these are the only two meals they receive in the run of a day."
But as the school year winds down, Aylward said she's worried about the next meal for her students. Parts of the meal program are kept running by Kids Eat Smart through community centres during the summer, but not to the same scale, Aylward said.
"It's not the same as that hot lunch that school lunch provides every day, but it is what's getting them through the summer until they come back to us in September," she said.
According to Proof, a research program based out of the University of Toronto that explores Canadian food insecurity, over 22 per cent of people in Newfoundland and Labrador lived in a household affected by food insecurity in 2022.
The demand for hot lunch services in schools has skyrocketed in recent years, according to School Lunch Association executive director John Finn. The program is operated as a pay-what-you-can model in 41 schools — with an additional 30 schools on a waiting list.
"It's a right to deserve a hot, nutritious lunch, regardless of your situation," Finn said.
Debbie Field, a co-ordinator of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, said more needs to be done at the provincial and national levels to ensure students have access to a hot lunch in schools.
"Canada is the only G7 country, and one of the only industrialized countries in the world, without some kind of harmonized school food program at the national level," Field said.
"Health and well-being for all Canadians, I think there's a consensus that Canadians do want the federal government to act when it's in the national interest and to partner with provinces and territories."
Field said help could also come from additional provincial funding, which she says would allow the School Lunch Association to knock down barriers and be available to every school in Newfoundland and Labrador.
With files from The Signal