The Sooke School District is calling on the provincial and federal governments to implement a universal healthy school food program.

In letters sent to government ministers at both levels, SD62 endorsed the efforts of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, an organization that advocates for a national school food program.

B次元官网网址淚n June 2019, the federal government announced that they would begin working alongside provincial governments and nonprofit organizations towards the creation of a national school food program. The time to implement this program is now,B次元官网网址� the letters read.

SD62 board chair Ravi Parmar says his hope is for a national program, but that one the district can tailor to its students.

B次元官网网址淗aving a flexible and adaptable program is really important to school districts like us because obviously, we support urban and rural students,B次元官网网址� Parmar said. B次元官网网址淟ife is very different for students in Port Renfrew than it is for students in Langford.B次元官网网址�

The federal government recently announced they were starting consultations to B次元官网网址渄evelop a pan-Canadian school food policy and explore how more Canadian children can receive nutritious food at schoolB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� more than three years after they announced they were beginning work on the problem.

B次元官网网址淭oo many children at school are trying to learn on empty stomachs, and too many Canadian families are not able to reliably access healthy food,B次元官网网址� federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould B次元官网网址� one of the ministers that received a letter B次元官网网址� said in a statement.

B次元官网网址淲e know that a pan-Canadian approach to school food has the potential to improve the overall health of our children as they learn, leading to better futures for them and for Canada.B次元官网网址�

A number of school districts have some form of food program, often run in collaboration with local food banks. Greater Victoria School District hands out 10,000 meals a week to 1,000 students and families via several hub schools in the form of a pick-up school lunch. The program was amped up as schools closed when the COVID-19 pandemic was first ramping up. School districts in Nanaimo and the Cowichan Valley also run programs.

Since the start of 2020, Matthew Kemshaw, the garden coordinator at Edward Milne Community School Society, has been working with students at EMCS, Belmont and Royal Bay Secondary schools on their garden programs to teach students about sustainable food growth.

B次元官网网址淲e do kind of believe in the importance of food as like a way of leveling the playing field for everybody, in some ways,B次元官网网址� Kemshaw said. B次元官网网址淚f everybody is well-fed, then they can learn well. But food also presents so many interesting opportunities to connect, cross-curricular beyond the walls of school into the community.B次元官网网址�

That food is often used in the respective schoolB次元官网网址檚 culinary classes, with Kemshaw eyeing an expansion of the gardenB次元官网网址檚 offerings to make them more productive for use in a food program.

B次元官网网址淎 school garden is never really going to be able to provide a meaningful amount of food to a universal school food program. What is really meaningful about the garden is, is that itB次元官网网址檚 a learning grounds, itB次元官网网址檚 a place for students to be able to witness where their food comes from.B次元官网网址�

Canada is one of the only members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) without a national school food program, according to the Coalition for Healthy School Food.

Recently SD62B次元官网网址檚 trustee board voted for the district superintended to create a one-time $25,000 staff affordability fund, to help staff struggling with the rising costs of living.

READ MORE: SD62 creates fund to help staff struggling with rising cost of living

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bailey.moreton@goldstreamgazette.com
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