A look at the early impact of the Farm to School Canada Grant Program
Throughout Canada and the United States, a momentum of activity is taking place to get fresh healthy foods from nearby farms, lands, and waters into the minds and onto the plates of students. Sparked by motivation to improve student nutrition, food skills, and knowledge while supporting local farmers and the local food economy, Farm to School has taken root in Canada.
A diverse landscape of school food programs can be seen across Canada. Unlike our neighbours in the US, Canada does not provide a federally assisted National School Lunch Program providing nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day. Instead, school food services vary from school to school across Canada. While some schools have contracted food services that run daily in fully licensed kitchens, many Canadian schools have no kitchen facilities at all and rely on parents to pack lunches daily for students or find innovative solutions to providing food to students at schools. In order to ensure that children have access to healthy, local, and sustainable food, communities have implemented a variety of initiatives and strategies. Farm to School salad bars are one of those strategies.
Authors: Roxana Atkinson
Published By: Farm to Cafeteria Canada
Date: January 2018
