On Tuesday March 19th, 2019, the federal government's budget announced its intention to work with provinces and territories towards the creation of a National School Food Program. The Coalition for Healthy School Food is thrilled about this development and would like to thank and congratulate the government as well as everyone who has been a part of advocating for federal support for the health of our children and youth in this way!
This announcement comes without a budget allocation. Debbie Field, Coordinator of the Coalition, shares that although we are celebrating we were looking for a financial contribution because school food programs have been found internationally to be an effective health promotion strategy. We are looking forward to future conversations in helping to shape this program as it moves ahead.
The announcement has been receiving strong media coverage and online discussion. This blog post will be sharing links to how this story is unfolding:
Budget 2019: Canada gets a national food policy (Kelsey Johnson, iPolitics, March 19, 2019)
Federal budget 2019: Details released on long-awaited national food policy (Ann Hui, Globe and Mail, March 20, 2010)
Liberals propose national school meal program as Canada remains back of pack on children's nutrition (Jolson Lim, Hill Times, March 20, 2019)
Federal budget pledges a Canadian school food program but recipe requires funding (Amberley Ruetz and Sara Kirk, The Conversation, March 21, 2019)
Story shared in the National Post
Visit the Coalition for Healthy School Food's Twitter page for sharings of support.
Blog posts sharing the news: