4 school food program considerations based on insights from Newfoundland and Labrador
This could be a shifting moment for Canada as the federal government moves to offer children at school access to a national school food program. Reflecting on my engagement with and study of the school food system in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, I offer four considerations for rolling out a school food program that are relevant to other provinces and territories across Canada:1. Not just a meal on a desk Let’s think about “school food” as a system of factors, not simply as a program or a meal on a desk.
This could be a shifting moment for Canada as the federal government moves to offer children at school access to a national school food program. Reflecting on my engagement with and study of the school food system in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, I offer four considerations for rolling out a school food program that are relevant to other provinces and territories across Canada:
1. Not just a meal on a desk
- Let’s think about “school food” as a system of factors, not simply as a program or a meal on a desk.
- Failure to consider these factors is where programs can fail to meet the needs that we as a society are trying to address.
2. Connections to people, land and place
- School food programs offer a way to build multiple connections and relationships where people live.
- School food also connects people to place.
- Exemplary programs across the world can help inform the practice of using school food as an opportunity to connect children to place.
3. Flexibility needed
- Over the past 20 years in Newfoundland and Labrador, the administration of schools has been constantly changing and evolving.
- Economic pressures have significantly affected public infrastructure, including the management and administration of schools.
- My research suggests that school food programs need to invest in human connections close to the infrastructure of schools.
- Members of communities care about and are invested in the spaces where they live.
4. Supporting Indigenous-led programs
- Let’s look at and support Indigenous-led programs across the country such as those highlighted in this webinar.
- From my conversations with some Mi’kmaq communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, I have learned about the concept of thinking about seven generations.
- After taking into account these four key points, where do we start as we envision a future school food program?
Emily Doyle's postdoc funding is from PhiLab (https://philab.uqam.ca/en/), MITACS, The Lawson Foundation and Metcalf Foundation.