School Food Agreements
On February 14 Brent Mansfield will be running 7 times 7km to urge the BC Government to sign the National School Food Agreement before March 31, 2025 to ensure $7.4 million available for this school year isn’t lost. I will be running all 7 times, with students and others joining on various laps. We will run an out and back route on the Seawall from the Inukshuk to Siwash Rock, a route used by our Run Club started with students, teachers and families.
Date: Friday, February 14
Location: Inukshuk at English Bay, Vancouver
Time:
The run will start at 9am, with another lap starting every hour until the last at 3pm, from the Inukshuk on English Bay.
I am working with Chef TJ Conwi, co-founder of LunchLAB, to have some food and warm drinks to be served from 12 to 1pm.
Media conference scheduled for 12:45pm
If you are able please feel free to come by for a lap, or to have some food and show your support! We are looking for a number of people to take an hour or two shift at a tent positioned by the Inukshuk. Please let me know (brentmansfield@gmail.com) if you are able to be involved.
Students are also making Valentines for the Premier, thanking him for provincial investment through Feeding Futures funding and asking them to work together with the federal government to accept the additional funds available for students. Teachers and students from across B.C. have been invited to create Valentines, with creative food puns and the message, “I love when my governments work together to support school food.”
Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba, Ontario, PEI, Inuit Taprit Kanatami and New Brunswick have already signed National School Food Program Agreements, but BC has yet to do so. The former BC Minister of Education and Child Care told the media that BC’s share of the federal money is expected to be $71.4 million over the next five years, beginning with about $7.4 million anticipated for this school year. In their election platform the BC NDP committed to “saving families money on groceries by expanding school meals,” and by doing so “helping families’ monthly budgets and improving students’ health, learning and outcomes.”
This run follows from previous school food advocacy efforts. Brent ran 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. Budget 2024, released in April, committed 1 billion dollars over 5 years to develop school food programs across Canada. On World Food Day (October 16) Brent ran an ultramarathon from 9am to 3pm, the length of a school day, in front of the B.C. Legislature to call on all parties in the provincial election to support school food programs in BC and to urge the future BC government to sign the Agreement as soon as possible to ensure federal funds can support BC students in the 2024-25 school year.
Send a Letter to Premier David Eby urging the provincial government to finalize an agreement by the end of March
The Food Framework Working Group of Vancouver PAC is reaching out to ask for your support in advocating for a provincial agreement with the National School Food Program to strengthen and sustain school food programs across British Columbia.
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 directly benefit students this school year through the existing Feeding Futures program.
School food programs are essential to student health, learning, and family affordability. With a united voice, we can ensure this critical funding is prioritized.
The due date for sending these support letters is March 15th.
If you would like more information on this, please feel free to reach out to our Food Framework Working Group. Vancouver DPAC's article on this initiative is here: link.
Briefing for Government of Canada survey on school food, due February 28
Share your thoughts on school food in Canada before February 28. This survey is an opportunity to help advance school food in Canada and we thank you in advance for taking the time to complete it.
If we're going to show the effectiveness of school food programs in Canada, identify opportunities to improve our programs, and fully understand the breadth of short and long-term benefits of school food, we need more research. Therefore, we encourage you to complete the survey to let the federal government know that you think research is important, sharing feedback from your experience about what is most needed.
You can access the survey here . The survey is due on February 28, 2025. It will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
For more information that may be helpful