With the cost of living continuing to rise, spending more to buy less food is a reality for an increasing share of Canadian families.
Universal School Food Programs
For Every Child
In Every School
Canada is the only G7 country without a universal school food program.
Every child deserves access to nutritious food for a healthy life and academic success. Free, nutritious school meals help all families, regardless of barriers or income.
By educating our communities about the benefits of a universal school food program, we can reduce the stigma that deters kids and families from accessing it. Getting food at school should be the norm, not the exception.
World Health Organization
The Five A’s of Food Security
When all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life. Commonly, the concept of food security is defined as including both physical and economic access to food that meets people’s dietary needs as well as their food preferences.
- Availability: Sufficient food for all people at all times.
- Accessibility: Physical and economic access to food for all at all times.
- Adequacy: Access to food that is nutritious and safe, and produced in environmentally sustainable ways.
- Acceptability: Access to culturally acceptable food, which is produced and obtained in ways that do not compromise people’s dignity, self-respect or human rights.
- Agency: The policies and process that enable the achievement of food security.
*Source: Rocha C. Centre for Studies in Food Security. Toronto, ON: Toronto Metropolitan University; n.d. [cited June 2020] https://www.torontomu.ca/foodsecurity
News & Resources
Learn More
Explore the latest updates from Nourish Cowichan and discover valuable information about food resources in the Cowichan Valley.
A Vancouver Island charity is sounding the alarm about food insecurity among B.C. children, noting that Canada is the only country in the G7 without a national school food program.
In our latest episode, Jo Chrona visits Rod and Jal to talk about her book Wayi Wah! and shares how Indigenous knowledge systems can inform our teaching practices and enhance education.
