Whereas almost 500,000 individuals in BC experience food insecurity, and Canada remains one of the only Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD nations without a national school food program and Canadas current patchwork of school food programming reaches only a small percentage of students; And whereas school food programs have been shown to increase childrens consumption of vegetables, fruits and other healthy foods and decrease the consumption of unhealthy ones; improve students mental health, including reductions in behavioural and emotional problems; improve cognitive skills and increase scholastic success: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM advocate to the provincial government for a Universal Healthy School Food Program that will enable all students in BC to have access to healthy meals at school, building on existing programs and including food education to serve culturally appropriate, local, sustainable food to the fullest extent possible.
Ministry of Education In 201718, the Ministry provided approximately 52.4M to 51 school districts to fund school meal programs through CommunityLINK and the Vulnerable Student Supplement. Ministry staff are currently working to understand the current landscape of existing school meal initiatives and approaches in school districts. Work to date has also included discussions with external partners, school districts, health authorities, Non-Government Organization sponsors, Non-Profit organizations and community supports. School meal programs in BC are designed and coordinated by individual school districts and research shows 71 of schools provide some form of a food programs, ranging from occasional snacks to breakfast and lunch. The Ministry is engaged in conversation with the Federal Government on their announcement towards the creation of a National School Food Program.