Steps for School Food: Building the best school food programs from coast to coast to coast
- Coalition Team
- 2d
- 3 min read
Updated: 23m
By: Brent Mansfield
Building on my past runs, I’ll be running and walking with students this May in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and the Yukon to invite students, teachers and school communities to take action and advocacy to build the best school food programs from coast to coast to coast.
With all 13 provinces and territories now signed onto the National School Food Program, having outlined a shared vision through Canada’s first National School Food Policy, - developed with inspiration from the Coalition for Healthy School Food’s Guiding Principles - we have a clear roadmap to build school food programs that are universal, comprehensive, sustainable, and rooted in best practices .
The Liberal Party Platform committed to making the National School Food Program permanent. This campaign, “Steps for School Food”, is inviting everyone to take action by urging the new government to pass legislation this year, and commit to increase the long-term funding in future budgets - to “work progressively towards the long-term goal of universal access”, in line with the objective from the National School Food Policy and the Coalition’s guiding principle of a universal school food program in Canada.
We now have the opportunity to build the best school food programs from coast to coast to coast. To achieve this vision, it is necessary for teachers, students, and school communities to take an active role, not only in ensuring students are well-nourished and ready to learn, but also by integrating educational goals, building food literacy and skills, fostering community, and strengthening connections to local food systems.
My vision for the future of school food programs is largely inspired by my experiences partnering with Growing Chefs to create an educational lunch program called LunchLAB (see here for a 7-minute film about the program). LunchLAB empowers students to prepare healthy meals for themselves and their peers, supported and mentored by a team of chefs-in-residence. I hope LunchLAB and other programs like it can help spark imagination for what school food programs could look like with public investment and diverse school community partnerships to help the programs thrive.
Join the movement
Together with the Coalition for Healthy School Food, I am inviting students, teachers, and school communities to participate in “Steps for School Food”. We want you to take action and advocacy for school food programs. Let’s engage and amplify the voices of students to make sure that programs are sufficiently and sustainably invested. We want youth voices to shape the future of school food.
Through my own teaching, I have found that getting students involved in advocating for school food programs is an opportunity to integrate cross-curricular learning - from civics and current events that impact students and school communities to letter-writing and social responsibility. I am working with the Coalition to develop curriculum-aligned resources to support intermediate and secondary school students in the next school year. Steps for School Food : May Events
In May, I will be running and walking with students in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and the Yukon with a variety of amazing partners and school food supporters, including: Nourish Nova Scotia, Kids Run Club, Black School Food Working Group, Food First NL, School Lunch Association, Yukon First Nation Education Directorate, Yukon Food Security Network, local schools, and community advocates.
Dates & Locations:
May 15: Halifax
May 20: St. John’s
May 29: Whitehorse
We invite students, teachers and school communities to join the “Steps for School Food” campaign in action and advocacy for building the best school food programs from coast to coast to coast by organizing your own run or walk.
If this is something that you might be interested in, please be in touch at brentmansfield@gmail.com.
The Coalition would like to to thank the McLean Foundation for its support of this work to engage students in school food program advocacy.