Run for a Universal School Food Program
It was a beautiful sunny and crisp day for a school food run this past Feb 14th Valentine’s Day. Brent Mansfield and a team of kids (well some ran part way) completed a 49 km run to raise awareness about the important need for a universal school food program. Brent is no stranger to these advocacy runs; this latest run urging the provincial government to sign and finalize an agreement with the federal government by the end of March. Under the 2024 National School Food Policy Budget, provinces would see an allocation of $79 million in the first year alone with BC receiving a portion to support B.C. students within this school year through the existing Feeding Futures Program.
The federal government’s commitment in Budget 2024 will see a further spending of $201 million in 2025-26, $218 million in 2026-27, $241 million in 2027-28 and $261 million in 2028-29.
The Universal School Food campaign is led by the Coalition for Healthy School Food, a national network of over 450 organizational members and endorsers Canada-wide, which “advocates for public investment in a universal cost-shared nutritious school meal program with consistent standards. Our vision is that the approximately five and a half million children aged 3-18 enrolled in elementary and secondary schools across Canada will eventually have daily access to a healthy meal at school”.
A tremendous amount of advocacy effort across the country saw the Government of Canada commit to $1 billion over 5 years for a National School Food Program in the April 2024 Budget. This is very welcome news and speaks to the government’s commitment to address the health and well-being of children and youth across the country. While we are still far from a universal food program, this is a very important first step towards the broader realization of food as a legislated right.
Policy of this kind does not come easily. Canada’s National School Food Policy provides an excellent framework for agreements between the provinces, territories, and Indigenous leaders and the long-term expansion of the National School Food Program.
According to the Coalition, Canada is ranked 37th of 41 countries on providing healthy food for kids and without a national school food program unlike many countries in the world. Several nations, including Finland, Sweden, Estonia, and India, already offer universal school meals.
Kudos to Brent who is no stranger to raising awareness about the need for accessible universal school meal programs. This is Brent’s forth run for this issue, including 200 laps, over 92km, around his school with his students in October 2023 and 200 laps around the front lawn in front of Parliament in Ottawa with a high school cross-country team in November 2023. “Both runs drew attention to the Government of Canada’s promise to invest $200 million annually for five years to establish the National School Food Program”. Again this past 2024 World Food Day Brent ran an ultramarathon from 9am to 3pm, the length of a school day, in front of the B.C. Legislature.
Local advocacy efforts continue alongside Brent’s work. The Food Framework Working Group of the Vancouver Parent Advisory Committee (DPAC) is reaching out to parents and the community for support in advocating for a provincial agreement with the National School Food Program. Attached is a letter addressed to Premier David Eby urging the provincial government to finalize an agreement by the end of March. This agreement will ensure millions of dollars in federal funding to directly benefit students this school year through the existing Feeding Futures program. A template letter is available and only takes 5 minutes of your time to complete and send.
Letter template to Premier Eby
The Vancouver Food Justice Coalition is a proud member of the Coalition for Healthy School Food.
