(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.
“Untangling the strings of the stock market is very difficult,” notes Judith Barry, co-founder of The Breakfast Club. We understand the context, but precisely this popular context justifies the need to invest in such a policy at this time. »
The organization participated in a consultation launched by the Ministry of Employment and Social Development in 2022 on developing a National School Feeding Policy. He had hoped that money would be included to start such a program in the last Union Budget, but was disappointed.
The Breakfast Club points out that Canada is the only G7 country without a school nutrition program.
Bloc Québécois MP Sylvie Bérubé sent a letter to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on Tuesday to remind her of this commitment. “Following my discussions with these companies, they are definite: the billions you promised must be delivered over five years,” he wrote. It is a requirement. »
He is asking that Quebec and other provinces be given the money to allocate it to organizations fighting food insecurity.
“Certainly there are commitments that need to be prioritized, and I think this is a priority for the future of our children,” says the member of Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eyou in an interview.
Although growth in food prices slowed in August, it rose to 6.9%. According to Statistics Canada data, they have already increased by 9.8% in 2022.
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.
Learn more
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- 13.6 million
- Amount allocated by the Government of Quebec in 2023-2024 for food assistance in the school network
Quebec Ministry of Education
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