National School Feeding Program | Where is the billion promised by the Liberals?

(Ottawa) The Breakfast Club is getting impatient. Rising food prices make the establishment of a National Nutritious School Meal Program even more relevant. The Liberals promised during the 2021 election campaign, but the billions have not come through in the budget. The Bloc Québécois insists that the government honor its commitment.

According to the most recent estimates, 1.8 million children in Canada lived in households that were unable to afford the food they needed in 2022. This is one in four children. An increase compared to the previous year when 1.4 million people did not have enough to eat. The data were calculated by researchers from PROOF, a project overseen by the University of Toronto whose aim is to propose public policies to reduce food insecurity.

The 2023 federal budget has a whole chapter with measures to make life affordable, but nothing to combat food insecurity in schools. “This is a long-term investment that will be more effective than some of the measures currently in place to ease the financial burden on families linked to food prices,” says Ms.^me Barry was referring to a meeting of Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne with five major grocery chains. He asked them to give him a plan to stabilize their prices between now and Thanksgiving.

The minister did not respond to questions from Chrystia Freeland Pres, her spokesperson referred them to the office of Families, Children and Community Development Minister Jenna Sutz. “Following a series of consultations with many stakeholders, we have received a lot of support to establish a national school food policy,” said Soraya Lemoore, its press secretary. He added that the advisory report would be released in the coming weeks without specifying whether the government intends to keep its promise.

In Budget 2019, the federal government committed to creating Canada’s first food policy. He promised to allocate 134.4 million over five years starting 2019-2020 and 5.2 million annually thereafter. The Liberals returned to the charge during the 2021 election campaign by pledging $1 billion over five years for the National Nutrition Food Program and launching a consultation in 2022 that did not lead to concrete policy.

Food insecurity in schools has been in the headlines in recent weeks. In Quebec, a coalition including the Breakfast Club is campaigning for the establishment of a universal food program. Founded in Montreal’s South Shore in 1994, the organization expanded nationwide in 2005 and today supports more than 3,000 projects from coast to coast.

A study by the Institute for Socioeconomic Research and Information (IRIS) estimated the cost of a free daily meal for all students in the public network in August at 1.7 billion a year. The National Assembly on September 13 unanimously adopted a resolution to eradicate food insecurity in schools.