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Published April 2, 2024 • 4 minute read
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Students at General Brock Public School in the city's west end line up to receive breakfast pancakes provided through the school's daily meal program on Tuesday, April 2, 2024.Photo by Madeline Mazak/Windsor Star
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In the first federal investment of its kind, the Government of Canada has allocated $1 billion to the National School Lunch Program in its next budget. Local groups say this will allow more students in Windsor-Essex to study with full stomachs.
“I don't think any community in Canada would benefit more from this program than Windsor-Essex,” said local MP Jilek Kusmieczyk (left, Windsor-Tecumseh).
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“You can have the best teacher in the world in front of a classroom, but if the child is hungry, that teacher will not be able to reach the child.”
Kusmieczyk added that Windsor-Essex County has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the country.
In the priority areas identified by United Way/Centride Windsor-Essex County, which includes the city's western edge, downtown core and Leamington, one in three children comes from poor families.
Still, the local region represents “the fruit and vegetable basket of North America,” Kusmieczyk said. “We have the highest concentration of greenhouses. There is no reason children in our area should have to go to school hungry.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on Monday announced plans to allocate $1 billion over the next five years to the national school lunch program.
Ontario will receive 40 per cent of the pot, or about $400 million, and will enhance existing breakfast and lunch programs in schools across the region.
This investment is expected to help feed more than 400,000 students across Canada while saving a family of four up to $800 annually.
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“Locally and nationally, food bank utilization is at an all-time high and food inflation is at a record high,” said Stephanie Segabe Thiessen, project manager for United Way/Centrade Windsor-Essex County. It is at a standard level.”
But Segave Thiessen said it was important to avoid prejudice against families living in poverty, adding: “This is not just a program for hungry children.”
She said food advocacy groups are pushing for a “universal program” that would provide nutritious meals to all students regardless of household income, similar to the American model that has existed since the 1940s.
“We see this as an opportunity to go beyond snacks and bring hot meals to children,” Segave Thiessen said.
“As a mother of three children and someone who has been involved in the food movement for many years, this is so important, and even more so now. It's sorely needed and Canada It turns out we were way behind.”
Students at General Block Public School in Windsor start their mornings with a pancake breakfast provided daily through the school's meal program. Principal Clayton Callow said that at most, more than 100 students benefit from the program each day.Photo by Madeline Mazak/Windsor Star
A patchwork of school lunch programs already exists across the country, funded by states, nonprofits, donors, and parent-teacher councils. This means that access to consistent school meals fluctuates based on a student's area code.
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More than 90 programs are facilitated in Windsor-Essex County through the Ontario Student Nutrition Program. During the 2023-2024 school year, these programs provided meals to approximately 27,133 students.
But Clayton Callow, superintendent of General Block Public Schools in the city's west end, said current funding levels aren't enough to meet needs.
Current funding amounts to about 17 cents per child per day. Teachers often supplement their programs with snacks they keep in their classrooms.
According to the Canadian Breakfast Club, Canada is the only G7 country without a national school nutrition program.
The United States passed the National School Lunch Act in 1946.
Kusmieczyk met with representatives from the Michigan Department of Education last week at Brock Public Schools to learn about best practices for the Michigan Meal Program.
He said the Government of Canada will ask provinces and territories to “step up their game” on funding school nutrition programs.
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Ontario currently provides $32 million in annual funding to support local school lunch programs.
Last fall, British Columbia announced it would distribute $214 million to school districts over the next three years through the Feeding Futures program.
“We're going to rely on Ontario to pull its socks up and do more and increase funding for school meals,” he said.
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This follows a series of announcements in anticipation of the 2024 federal budget, which is scheduled to be tabled on April 16.
Funding for the National School Lunch Program, as well as $10-a-day child care across Canada, will be provided to provinces and territories through bilateral agreements.
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During a visit to Windsor last week, federal Justice Minister Arif Virani said Ontario, which was the last to sign a child care agreement, is behind eight other provinces that have already introduced $10-a-day child care. Stated.
Kusmieczyk said cooperation between all levels of government is important to implement a national school lunch program.
Segave Thiessen said the program also provides opportunities for innovative farm-to-school models that can strengthen local farms and urban agriculture.
She pointed to areas in Toronto and Detroit that have successfully established neighborhood models where people of different ages and backgrounds come together to cook and grow food together.
mmazak@postmedia.com
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