More than 7,500 K to 12 Calgary students are relying on school lunch programs that are designed to help food-insecure families, highlighting the need for more school lunch supports amidst a worsening affordability crisis.

According to the Calgary Foundation’s Quality of Life Report 2024, more than a quarter of Calgarians cannot afford healthy food. Around 46 per cent of those surveyed said they buy fewer fruits and vegetables, and another 21 per cent said they have accessed community-based food services.

It’s even harder for families with young children – 39 per cent said they skip meals to make sure their children can eat. Around 63 per cent of families with young children in Calgary have served meals that aren’t nutritious, and 26 per cent said they have used community-based food services for their kids.

Bethany Ross, executive director for Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids (BB4CK), said more than 7,500 kindergarten to Grade 12 students across more than 280 schools in the city rely on BB4CK’s school lunch program. The program was started around 30 years ago by volunteers who wanted to provide food to children experiencing homelessness. The focus was shifted over time to kids in school.

Today, more than 30 community kitchens and hundreds of volunteers make lunches for these kids daily to ensure no kids go hungry.

“Last year, we started the school year providing lunch for about 6,500 kids a day, and this school year we started at about 7,500 kids a day,” she told LiveWire Calgary.

“Almost one in three kids in Calgary and Alberta live in a household where they experienced food insecurity in the last year, which means their parents and families are concerned about having enough food at some point in the future.”

Ross said there are major gaps in the school food system. At the time of writing, Canada is the only G7 country that does not have a national school food program.

In April, the federal government announced $1 billion in funding for the next five years to create a new National School Food Program as part of Budget 2024. The program is expected to provide meals for up to 400,000 kids a year and the money is meant to expand on existing school nutrition programs across the country.

But Education Minister Demetrios Niccolaides called the National School Food Program “redundant,” saying additional funding must go directly to the province to “enhance support for existing programs.”

The province also invested $20 million into its School Nutrition Program, he added.

“The reality with almost one in three kids who experience food insecurity … That’s a lot of kids who benefit from food in school, and the amount that we’re spending right now just doesn’t match that,” Ross said.

School boards fill in gaps with external funding, community programs

A spokesperson for the Calgary Catholic School District said the Breakfast Club of Canada and President’s Choice Children’s Charity are primary funding resources for its breakfast and snack programs across 57 schools this year. Seven schools also received support from Alberta’s School Nutrition Program, where they receive a hot lunch daily. The Calgary Police Youth Foundation’s Integrated School Support Program also provides Holy Trinity School with a breakfast and lunch program.

The Calgary Board of Education said it has partnered with eight community organizations to provide nutritional support to students. This includes Calgary Meals on Wheels – which helps deliver the School Nutrition Program to 38 elementary and middle schools – and the Breakfast Club of Canada. All students can participate in the “universally offered” breakfast programs, the CBE said.

BB4CK also provides lunch and snacks to students in need across 180 schools, and the CBE said the number continues to increase. However, the program is not universal in delivery and instead relies on school requests.

Schools will also have emergency pantry support for “the occasional forgotten lunch” and the school board said it will consider additional nutritional program supports based on a school’s needs and kitchen amenities.

“We understand that factors such as enrolment growth and the rising costs of living can place additional financial strain on families. These challenges can impact a student’s access to nutritious meals, which in turn affects their ability to concentrate and perform well in school,” a CBE spokesperson told LWC in an emailed statement Wednesday.

“To address this issue, we have implemented a variety of initiatives and programs to support students’ nutritional needs … These programs aim to ensure that students have access to healthy food during the school day.”

Public school lunch programs will improve education outcomes: professor

One professor said implementing a national school lunch program may improve education and economic outcomes for Calgary’s school children.

Lynne Lafave is a professor at Mount Royal University’s Department of Health and Physical Education. She specializes in nutritional sciences, especially in younger children.

She told LWC that reducing hunger in classrooms and improving student nutrition will have long-term positive health outcomes. Students who have access to nutritious food at school can pursue their academic dreams and participate in their communities because they can focus on their school work. They will also have opportunities to learn about food because they have healthier options.

“If you have a school program, kids have access to good quality food, and maybe that they choose those when they grow up, because they’ve been exposed to them,” Lafave said.

A national school food program will also have broader economic benefits because it will promote equity. Working parents will not have to stress about packing lunches for their kids every morning, which means they can focus on their jobs and careers, Lafave said.

School lunch programs can also promote equity and community because kids eating similar foods can have the same mealtime experience.

“If everybody’s eating it, there’s an equitable distribution of nutrition. It’s better for the kids because they’re all eating [the same thing], and there’s a sense of community that’s developed. And also, you don’t have families where, if they can’t afford nutritious foods, they’re not being outed,” the professor said.

Lafave added that school lunch programs need to be widely adopted to be successful. If parents want a national or provincial school food policy, they should make that known to policymakers.

Another avenue to explore is improved school nutrition or food policies, she said.

“What we know about children is that they start to develop their preferences for eating very early … So, the earlier that we can come into a child’s life and expose them to healthy opportunities and foods and be able to participate in some of the activities of food preparation, we can make a difference in the types of food those kids will enjoy later in life,” Lafave said.

“Starting early is certainly a more productive use of funding than working with … young adults at university trying to make a change in what they’re choosing. Starting early makes a difference in the later run.”