Buy-in and adequate funding essential to success of national school food program: U of T researchers

In 2024, Canada’s federal government announced a national school food program, which aims to expand access to food in schools for an additional 400,000 Canadian children. The program provides $1 billion over five years for local school food programs across the provinces and territories, all of which have signed a funding deal with the government as of March 2025.

Nicole Weber and Nina Trask are registered dietitians and researchers with Feeding Kids, Nourishing Minds, a series of studies on school food programs led by the Joannah & Brian Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition at the University of Toronto. They recently conducted a mixed methods study gathering perspectives from school food program coordinators in public boards across Ontario.

The study, which ran from 2022 to 2024, identified benefits and challenges of running school food programs. It also provided insights on how these efforts — and a coordinated, national approach — can best improve program delivery. Weber and Trask spoke with writer Eileen Hoftyzer about the study.

What did you hear from school food program coordinators about the benefits of these programs?

Weber: We often heard from coordinators about how these programs reduce students’ hunger throughout the school day. But we also heard they do so much more: build caring, inclusive school communities; contribute to students’ well-being and engagement in learning; build stronger student relationships by improving behaviour and focus; and provide skill-building and leadership opportunities. All this creates a culture of care and positive interactions around food. 

Trask: School coordinators in our study also shared that the programs encouraged healthy eating patterns, helped students listen to their hunger cues, and improved their understanding of how food affects their moods and behaviours. When students were involved in preparing and serving the food, they built important life skills around food and nutrition. 

What are some of the challenges that these programs face?

Weber: Nearly all school food program coordinators reported that reliance on volunteers and a lack of paid staff hindered their ability to support the program activities and meet their goals. The coordinators said that keeping up with price inflation and rising student usage of the programs has been challenging. Inadequate funding has forced some programs to reduce their offerings, like providing snacks instead of meals or decreasing the frequency of the program. And since each program is locally administered, the absence of centralized systems at regional and national levels can hamper their efficiency, since every program is navigating procurement and other challenges on their own.

With inadequate funding as a concern, how did school coordinators address the nutritional quality of food provided?

Trask: Our study didn’t analyze the nutrition of food offered or assess food providers, though this is an important area of research that others in our team have addressed and are undertaking (for example, here and here). Coordinators did say that their main aim is to ensure the nutritional quality of food served while maintaining their budgets, and that food cost inflation has shifted what they’re able to provide. For example, due to limited budgets they might buy more affordable vegetables, like carrots instead of red peppers, but they were still prioritizing nutritious choices. 

Also, because there is limited access to affordable centralized ordering systems, most programs are navigating procurement on their own. They’re doing their best with limited resources, but they need more professional expertise (like dietitians and updated school nutrition guidelines) to help make nutritious selections. At government levels, we need more standardized nutrition guidelines adapted for school food programs, and which give tangible recommendations that centre nutrition quality and clarify serving sizes. Beyond food costs, the government funding will help address infrastructure and staffing needs relative to budgetary decisions.

What kind of support or infrastructure helps a school food program to run well?

Weber: Our research found that programs thrive when they have dedicated staff, community support, adequate infrastructure and consistent funding. Without these, even the best-intentioned initiative struggles to meet its goal.

Program implementation was improved when coordinators could leverage school resources, such as space, facilities and equipment. For example, a high school that has a culinary vocational program means that students could make and serve school meals as part of their education, and the school would already have the facilities to allow for on-site food preparation. Having students participate aligns with the national school food policy objective of providing food and nutrition education and hands-on learning to students, and it provides additional support for coordinators who have limited human resources. 

Some critics have concerns about whether a national program is the best use of public funds, since local programs provide food for all children regardless of socio-economic status. Is a school food program an effective policy to address food insecurity? 

Trask: These programs, when adequately resourced and focused on health and nutrition, have a vital role in overall child well-being, regardless of household income. Hunger can be experienced by individual students across the socio-economic spectrum: maybe a student has a long bus ride, or they didn’t want to eat breakfast. According to the Canadian Community Health Survey and available literature, children and adolescents eat less than the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables, and schools offer an important setting to foster healthy habits and improve students’ nutritional intake.

Universal programming is a common mandate of school food programs, and a big reason for that is to reduce stigma by ensuring all students have equal access to meals. Even in elementary school, students are aware of the social stigma of accessing needs-based programs, and the majority of parents and caregivers usually prefer a universal access model.

Weber: Food insecurity and school food programs need to be viewed as two distinct issues at the level of federal policy. When we talk specifically about policies to address household food insecurity, economic solutions that increase household income like direct cash benefits should be centred in the discussion. But school food programs are a critical component of a multifaceted approach to address health and education equity: they offer both an immediate response to hunger and an investment in long-term health outcomes by addressing nutritional needs. These benefits affect all children, not just those facing food insecurity. Focusing the narrative only on food insecurity and poverty may miss these broader impacts of school food programs on child development.

What lessons from your study could help in implementation as the national school food program begins?

Trask: Buy-in from schools, communities and the Canadian public is essential to build and maintain a successful national school food program. Programs in Canada need more coordination, networks of paid professionals and centralized operating systems, so that each school isn’t trying to navigate each step on its own. We also explored considerations for cultural diversity and equity with coordinators, and there are important lessons there as well. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. The programs have to be flexible to meet the needs of the specific school and community.
Ultimately, programs need sufficient, permanent funding and staffing solutions to both meet rising student needs and build capacity to deliver on their potential.

Feeding Kids, Nourishing Minds is supported by a $2 million investment from President’s Choice Children’s Charity, and by the Joannah & Brian Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition at the University of Toronto.