Baranyay: School nutrition programs bring many benefits to society as a whole

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In France, in the middle of class, children enjoy a three-course lunch: a salad or vegetable appetizer, a hot main course, cheese, and dessert. Japan’s mandatory school lunch program, widely considered the gold standard, involves healthy, varied lunches prepared on the spot and served by first-grade students to their peers. In India, the world’s largest school nutrition program provides hot meals to 120 million children every day, providing critical support to improve literacy, reduce malnutrition and keep children in school. It has become a strategy.

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School lunch programs, like fluoridated water and prenatal vitamins, are one initiative that offers a huge return on investment. National programs and standards have been established in all other G7 countries and have expanded to more than 100 countries worldwide.

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Here in Canada, one in four children lives in a household facing food insecurity. In a wealthy country like ours it is a travesty and the situation is even worse. In 2022, the percentage of people living in food-insecure households increased in every state.

On Easter Monday, the Prime Minister pledged $1 billion over five years to implement the National School Meals Programme. The new program fulfills a 2021 campaign promise and aims to feed 400,000 students annually. In addition to this, there are approximately 2 million students currently accessing food programs through a patchwork of community programs, state funding, and philanthropy.

The federal Liberal Party has been running something of an election campaign to pave the way for the April 16 budget. School lunches are part of future kitchen countermeasures, including tenant protection and more affordable childcare spaces.

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Conservative leader Pierre Poièvre immediately characterized the plan as a “federal food bureaucracy.” In December, the opposition leader, who often bemoans the rise in food bank use, led the Conservatives in voting against a private member’s bill proposing a national framework for school feeding programmes.

It is true that there is an element of bureaucracy in the management of government funds. Mr. Poilievre must know that this is the price of responsibility. The same oversight applies to the management of funds raised by charities and the implementation of almost any program intended to measure effectiveness.

Any meal program must follow nutritional guidelines, track the number of students reached and meals served, and stay on top of spending. Governments do not need to invent a “food bureaucracy” to do these things. We can work with partner agencies to expand existing programs and copy best practices from long-standing school lunch programs.

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Putting money directly into the pockets of families with young children is one of the best ways to ensure their children have enough to eat. Ottawa has strengthened this support in recent years by indexing the Canada Child Benefit to maintain the cost of living. Last year, maximum benefits increased by several hundred dollars. Further increases are expected in 2024.

It’s a good program, but it’s not enough. The best way to keep children from going hungry is to feed them at school.

When it comes to child health interventions, schools are the most pervasive and most impactful institutions. They have already successfully implemented regular eye exams, dental exams and in-school immunizations, as well as daily physical activity to combat rising childhood obesity.

Providing food to all students eliminates stigma and gives children social permission to eat. For some students, it may be the best meal of the day.

write.robin@baranyai.ca

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