tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/school-food-8703/articlesSchool food – The Conversation2024-02-29T22:55:50Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2242342024-02-29T22:55:50Z2024-02-29T22:55:50ZBeyond the cafeteria: The economic case for investing in school meals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578771/original/file-20240228-18-mnuihk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=66%2C8%2C5492%2C3692&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An investment in a national school food program today is an investment in a stronger Canada tomorrow.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The return on investing in universal school meals is clear. According to our new report, universal free school meals (breakfast and lunch for students regardless of income) have <a href="https://amberleyruetz.ca/assets/uploads/ruetz-consulting_the-economic-rationale-for-investing-in-school-meal-programs-for-canada.pdf">2.5 to seven times the return</a> in human health and economic benefits in comparable high-income countries. </p>
<p>The quality of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2017-0125">student diets in Canada across all socio-economic backgrounds is poor</a>, with only a small fraction meeting <a href="https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/">Canada’s Food Guide recommendations</a>. </p>
<p>Studies have shown that school-provided meals offer higher nutritional quality compared to home-packed lunches in many countries, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/s1368980012000699">Canada</a>, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1941406411399124">United States</a>, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007114510001601">United Kingdom</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/jns.2018.29">Denmark</a>. </p>
<p>A national school food program would join <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/campaigns/child-care.html">Canada’s universal child care program</a> and the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/canada-child-benefit-overview.html">Canada child benefit</a> as a crucial social support, bringing immediate relief to families while also delivering several short to long-term economic and social benefits. </p>
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<img alt="An illustrated graphic titled 'the missing piece in existing social policies: national school food program'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Universal free school meals have 2.5 to seven times the return in human health and economic benefits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Alexandra Sawatzky/Arrell Food Institute)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<h2>Immediate relief to household budgets</h2>
<p>Healthy food has become unaffordable for many Canadian families. In 2023, Canadians <a href="https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/sites/agri-food/Canada%27s%20Food%20Price%20Report%202023_Digital.pdf">spent less on food</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/inflation-is-down-overall-so-why-are-my-grocery-bills-still-going-up-210122">despite rampant cost increases</a>, and this is only predicted to get worse.</p>
<p>The 2024 Canada’s Food Price Report anticipates <a href="https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/sites/agri-food/EN_CANADA%27S%20FOOD%20PRICE%20REPORT%202024.pdf">an annual increase of $701 in food costs</a> per four-person household, which means Canadian families can expect to spend $16,297 on groceries this year.</p>
<p>Universal school meals could <a href="https://amberleyruetz.ca/assets/uploads/ruetz-consulting_the-economic-rationale-for-investing-in-school-meal-programs-for-canada.pdf">save families between $129 and $189 per child per month on grocery bills</a>, according to our report. </p>
<p>Universal school meals would put more money back into the pockets of Canadians, helping them keep up with the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/the-grind-submissions-1.7043269">increased cost of living</a> and allowing them to afford healthy meals when their children are not in school.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Universal school meals could save families between $129 and $189 per child per month on grocery bills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Alexandra Sawatzky/Arrell Food Institute)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>In Sweden, one study found that participation in a universal free school lunch program led to a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdab028">permanent household income increase of 2.6 per cent</a>. </p>
<p>Importantly, this permanent increase was not attributed to reduced household food expenditures, meaning school meals can help increase affordability in the short-term and increase household incomes in the mid-term. </p>
<h2>Supporting women in the workforce</h2>
<p>Preparing healthy school lunches is tough when parents work long hours. Universal free school meals support parents — particularly <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/10/31/1209763245/globally-women-are-cooking-twice-as-many-meals-as-men">women, who often spend more time making meals</a> — <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13030911">by saving money and time, reducing financial stress, and guaranteeing kids eat well at school</a>. </p>
<p>This allows women to focus better at work, reduces interruptions and helps them achieve a healthier work-life balance, leading to increased productivity and career advancement opportunities.</p>
<p>In fact, the same Swedish study that was previously mentioned found that access to a universal free school lunch program increased mothers’ labour market participation by five per cent.</p>
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<img alt="An illustrated graphic that lists the benefits of universal food programs on housholds and families" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">School food programs support families and especially women, who often spend more time making meals than men do.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Alexandra Sawatzky/Arrell Food Institute)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>In China, the introduction of school lunches led to a <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11956/185233">nine to 14 per cent increase in mothers’ working hours per week</a>, with the greatest increases among low-income mothers and mothers in rural communities.</p>
<p>Overall, this means that in addition to increasing household income, universal free school meals can increase women’s workforce participation, thereby supporting gender equality, individual economic prosperity and national economic growth. </p>
<h2>Increasing earnings, reducing inequality</h2>
<p>In the long-term, universal free school lunches can also improve children’s health, academic performance and subsequent economic outcomes throughout life. </p>
<p>The previously mentioned Swedish study found that students exposed to a school lunch program throughout the entirety of primary school had <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdab028">three per cent higher lifetime earnings</a> compared to students that did not participate due to improved nutritional health and education outcomes. </p>
<p>Among children from households in the lowest income bracket, access to free school lunches led to a six per cent increase in lifetime earnings. The program had the greatest positive impact on students from low-income households, showcasing the role school meals can play in reducing socioeconomic inequalities in adulthood.</p>
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<img alt="An illustrated graphic of a bar graph demonstrating that students’ lifetime earnings when they have access to a universal school food program" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In Sweden, access to universal free lunch increased students’ lifetime earnings, creating more equitable societies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Alexandra Sawatzky/Arrell Food Institute)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<h2>Growing Canada’s agri-food economy</h2>
<p>Universal school meals can also support the Canadian agri-food sector. A national program has the potential to stimulate the <a href="https://sciencepolicy.ca/posts/national-school-food-program-a-short-term-opportunity-for-jobs-creation-and-economic-growth-2/">creation of as many as 207,700 jobs</a>. </p>
<p>Investments in school meal programs in <a href="https://www.choicesmagazine.org/UserFiles/file/cmsarticle_565.pdf">the U.S.</a> have led to the creation of jobs in food service, agriculture and nutrition and program administration, fuelling economic growth while curbing unemployment. </p>
<p>Furthermore, by adopting a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2012.0023">farm-to-school approach similar to that in the U.S.</a>, Canada could support local farmers and suppliers. According to estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, every dollar allocated to such programs generates an additional <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.338161">$1.30 to $2.60 in local economic activity</a>. </p>
<p>Similarly, in British Columbia, every dollar allocated to procuring provincially grown food for public institutions yields a <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/growbc-feedbc-buybc/feed-bc-and-the-bc-food-hub-network#">twofold return to the economy</a>, showcasing the significant economic benefits of supporting local agriculture.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An illustrated graphic of a school with a farmer on one side and a vegetable stand on the other, with arrows leading from the school to both" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">School food programs can support local farmers and food businesses and contribute to Canada’s agrifood sector.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Alexandra Sawatzky/Arrell Food Institute)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>School food programs are recognized internationally as <a href="https://executiveboard.wfp.org/document_download/WFP-0000038526">one of the most successful drivers of health and education among schoolchildren and increased productivity</a> when they become working adults, as reported by the World Food Programme. </p>
<p>Our new research summarizes the <a href="https://amberleyruetz.ca/assets/uploads/ruetz-consulting_the-economic-rationale-for-investing-in-school-meal-programs-for-canada.pdf">strong economic rationale for investing in school meal programs</a> in Canada. Universal school meals can not only provide immediate relief to families, but also build a legacy of improved public health and economic prosperity for generations to come. </p>
<p>An investment in a national school food program today is an investment in a stronger Canada tomorrow.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224234/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amberley T. Ruetz receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Arrell Family Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Flora Zhang receives funding from the Arrell Family Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gabrielle Edwards receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Arrell Family Foundation. </span></em></p>From reducing families’ grocery bills to boosting the economy, school meals offer far-reaching benefits, fostering both immediate well-being and long-term economic prosperity.Amberley T. Ruetz, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, University of SaskatchewanFlora Zhang, Master of Public Health Student, University of TorontoGabrielle Edwards, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Food and Nutrition and Sport Science, University of GothenburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2105852023-08-09T21:49:27Z2023-08-09T21:49:27ZFrom outdoor classrooms to gardens, how Nova Scotia youth are creating healthier school communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540773/original/file-20230802-21-djfkjw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C39%2C1200%2C808&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">School-community partnerships are empowering children and youth to lead projects like landscaping a new Tranquility Garden in Northport, N.S., in 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(UpLift Partnership)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/from-outdoor-classrooms-to-gardens-how-nova-scotia-youth-are-creating-healthier-school-communities" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Youth and young adults hold unique, creative and diverse perspectives and approaches compared to their adult counterparts. Think about the advocacy of <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/02/09/1150729582/greta-thunbergs-the-climate-book-urges-world-to-keep-climate-justice-out-front#">Greta Thunberg</a> and <a href="https://www.mikaelaloach.com">Mikaela Loach</a> around climate change and climate justice or <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2014/yousafzai/facts/">Malala Yousafzai’s</a> advocacy for all children’s rights to receive an education.</p>
<p>While these advocates have challenged the marginalization of children’s and young people’s voices in the context of countries’ governance typically structured around adult participation, countries around the globe have ratified the <a href="https://www.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/UNCRC_summary-1_1.pdf">United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child</a> and many organizations work to amplify youth voices. </p>
<p>Our work with the <a href="https://www.upliftns.ca/">UpLift Partnership</a> in Nova Scotia, Canada, is aimed at supporting the health and learning of school-aged children and youth by empowering them to take the lead in making their school communities more supportive, healthy, sustainable and safe.</p>
<p>We share this work as part of observing <a href="https://www.iesalc.unesco.org/en/evento/international-youth-day/">International Youth Day</a> on Aug. 12, a day to celebrate, acknowledge and recognize the rights of young people to drive social change for themselves, their communities and the world. We also share it to support youth engagement in social change and healthier school communities year round.</p>
<h2>Health Promoting Schools</h2>
<p>The UpLift Partnership is rooted in a global movement and model of <a href="https://academic.oup.com/heapro/article/36/2/297/6179012">Health Promoting Schools</a>, first championed by <a href="https://www.who.int/teams/health-promotion/enhanced-wellbeing/first-global-conference">the World Health Organization</a> and driven by the insight that “health is created and lived by people within the settings of their everyday life.” </p>
<p>Involving youth in promoting health in schools can catalyze <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1374">students’ ability to initiate and bring about positive change in the world</a> — what researchers call their “action competence.”</p>
<p>This includes building knowledge, motivation and competencies that align with this year’s <a href="https://www.un.org/en/observances/youth-day?gclid=CjwKCAjwt52mBhB5EiwA05YKo1geKsvek0dgDp6vKfIBN3kVfpODvIDb3ITBrHp529N01O_psmquFBoCsA8QAvD_BwE">International Youth Day theme, Green Skills for Youth</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Feet seen around a sheet of paper with ideas on grass." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540273/original/file-20230731-23-bl2g38.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540273/original/file-20230731-23-bl2g38.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540273/original/file-20230731-23-bl2g38.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540273/original/file-20230731-23-bl2g38.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540273/original/file-20230731-23-bl2g38.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540273/original/file-20230731-23-bl2g38.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540273/original/file-20230731-23-bl2g38.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students brainstorm ideas to create healthier schools as part of a student action grant project.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(UpLift Partnership)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Building ‘green skills’</h2>
<p>The Uplift Partnership brings together different stakeholders such as school communities, government partners and not-for-profit organizations and is hosted at <a href="https://www.healthypopulationsinstitute.ca/">the Healthy Populations Institute at Dalhousie University</a>.</p>
<p>The partnership between these diverse parties is grounded in <a href="https://blogs.dal.ca/openthink/from-research-to-action-a-short-research-story-on-the-uplift-partnership/">over a decade of research</a> designed to enhance youth engagement within the Health Promoting Schools model. </p>
<p>Over the past four years, youth have led projects through the support of UpLift student action grants. Building green skills helps them to understand the <a href="https://www.onechancens.ca/_files/ugd/db246d_4b7d33da61c34333a7bc6d6f3dc546d3.pdf?index=true">strong connection</a> between health, well-being and nature.</p>
<h2>Tranquility Garden</h2>
<p>In fall 2020, in the COVID-19 pandemic, a student group in Northport, N.S., created an outdoor space for their school community. Prior to this, the school did not have a physical outdoor seating area or place for the students and staff to connect with nature, despite its rural location. </p>
<p>The Tranquility Garden now provides students, staff and animals with a calming and enjoyable place to visit and play. Students and staff planted fruit trees, flowers and shrubs, and built benches for seating to create the garden. </p>
<p>This student-led initiative has given this school a place to learn, play and connect outdoors. </p>
<h2>Outdoor shelter, cooking by fire</h2>
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<img alt="A peaked tent seen outdoors on grass against a blue sky." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540278/original/file-20230731-26489-f1aex5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540278/original/file-20230731-26489-f1aex5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540278/original/file-20230731-26489-f1aex5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540278/original/file-20230731-26489-f1aex5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540278/original/file-20230731-26489-f1aex5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1003&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540278/original/file-20230731-26489-f1aex5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1003&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540278/original/file-20230731-26489-f1aex5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1003&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">An outdoor shelter is both a formal learning space, and a place for youth to socialize outdoors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(UpLift Partnership)</span></span>
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<p>Over 90 students worked on an UpLift student action grant to create an outdoor shelter with a stove at their school in Colchester, N.S. </p>
<p>Prior to installing the hot tent shelter and stove, few students at the school had the desire to learn outside due to the exposed nature of the outdoor space. </p>
<p>The outdoor shelter now serves as a space for multiple learning opportunities that connect the students to their environment, like stargazing, cooking by fire and building outdoor education skills. It is also a place for students to simply connect and socialize with peers outside.</p>
<h2>Farm-to-school movement</h2>
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<img alt="Different compartments of vegetables chopped." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541273/original/file-20230804-23-jek0r5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541273/original/file-20230804-23-jek0r5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541273/original/file-20230804-23-jek0r5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541273/original/file-20230804-23-jek0r5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541273/original/file-20230804-23-jek0r5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1020&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541273/original/file-20230804-23-jek0r5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1020&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541273/original/file-20230804-23-jek0r5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1020&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Nutritious food is served at a school’s salad bar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(UpLift Partnership)</span></span>
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<p>A student action team in Tatamagouche, N.S., worked with UpLift to purchase salad bar infrastructure where they can prepare the food they grow and harvest in their school gardens. This <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5babce91d86cc97bc2f2771a/t/6092c87119fbab2b163853c8/1620232323139/Go+Fresh+Salad+Bar+Station+Framework-2.pdf">Go Fresh Salad Bar</a> station is the final piece of a growing <a href="https://theconversation.com/farm-to-school-movement-takes-root-in-canada-101635">farm-to-school movement</a> in their school. The school community already had plans to build a school garden and greenhouse. </p>
<p>This funding provided the salad bar infrastructure necessary to support more diverse and nutritious food options at the school cafeteria. This infrastructure also supports youth building green leadership skills through sustainable food processes such as menu development and food preparation.</p>
<h2>Healthier futures</h2>
<p>These are just a few examples of how youth have the capacity and potential to change their school community. As <a href="https://academic.oup.com/heapro/article/32/2/195/2950915?login=false">researchers have documented</a>, youth participation in school health promotion enhances youth knowledge, competence, motivation and commitments to health and well-being. This, in turn, will help young people become active citizens for a healthier future. </p>
<p>There is no day like today to advocate, highlight and build awareness of the transformative power of youth voices in making our world a more sustainable and healthy society. As famously quoted by Thunberg, “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAJuX7xed8o">You are never too small to make a difference</a>,” and a difference is never too small to impact the world. </p>
<p>Follow the #YouthLead initiative by the <a href="https://www.un.org/youthenvoy/2023/07/youthday2023/">United Nations</a> to celebrate International Youth Day. It is time for youth to have a lead role on the world’s stage, and for more adults to uplift them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210585/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julia Kontak works for the UpLift Partnership and receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Public Health Agency of Canada and Heart and Stroke. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara F.L. Kirk is the academic co-lead of the UpLift Partnership and receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Government of Nova Scotia.</span></em></p>Involving youth in promoting health in schools can catalyze students’ ability to bring about positive change. On International Youth Day and year round, more adults could lift up youth voices.Julia Kontak, PhD student, School of Health, Dalhousie UniversitySara F.L. Kirk, Professor of Health Promotion; Scientific Director of the Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2097242023-07-23T12:37:45Z2023-07-23T12:37:45ZSchool-approved Cheetos? Why we must protect school food from corporate interests<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537811/original/file-20230717-129345-mp356k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C271%2C4031%2C2746&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Artwork created by public school students about the availability of healthy foods in schools.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Sara Kirk)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/school-approved-cheetos-why-we-must-protect-school-food-from-corporate-interests" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Universal access to healthy school meal programs is <a href="https://cps.ca/en/documents/position/school-nutrition-support">essential for children’s well-being</a>, but Canada lags behind its peers in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxac052">providing nutritious food to children</a>. </p>
<p>While the federal government committed to a <a href="https://www.healthyschoolfood.ca/post/federal-budget-2019-announces-a-national-school-food-program">national school food program in the 2019 budget</a>, it has not funded its implementation. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-budget-pledges-a-canadian-school-food-program-but-recipe-requires-funding-112789">Federal budget pledges a Canadian school food program but recipe requires funding</a>
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<p>A <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/school-food/consultation-school-food.html">report on the 2022 consultations</a> on a national school food policy will soon be released. It’s likely that the food industry will have made their corporate interests heard, and industry-affiliated corporations are known to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-022-00842-4">lobby Canadian policymakers to influence federal nutrition policies</a>. </p>
<p>Public engagement is key to building inclusive and accessible public policy. The consultations heard from provincial, territorial and Indigenous governments and community organizations about the value and role of healthy school food. It also heard from the food industry — and this is problematic. </p>
<p>The food industry uses <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.982908">policy consultations</a> to advance competing corporate industry interests to the detriment of public health. </p>
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<img alt="A group of people, mostly women, sit around a table. most are smiling." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538301/original/file-20230719-27-vsufa7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538301/original/file-20230719-27-vsufa7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538301/original/file-20230719-27-vsufa7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538301/original/file-20230719-27-vsufa7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538301/original/file-20230719-27-vsufa7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538301/original/file-20230719-27-vsufa7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538301/original/file-20230719-27-vsufa7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Social Development Minister Karina Gould’s roundtable consultation on the development of the National School Food Policy at the University of Guelph in January 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(University of Guelph)</span></span>
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<h2>Food industry lobbying</h2>
<p>We have good reason to sound the alarm about the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-018-0336-y">power of the food industry in shaping diets and health</a>. The food industry regularly borrows from the political playbook of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0009.2009.00555.x">tobacco</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)62089-3">alcohol</a> and other health-harming industries. They do this to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(22)00185-1">protect their commercial interests</a>.</p>
<p>The federal government has not yet ruled out a significant role for the food industry in the creation of a national school food program. This openness to industry influence or interference is cause for concern due to the <a href="https://www.ijhpm.com/article_3940.html">profit-driven mandate</a> of businesses that make or process unhealthy and unsustainable foods.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v8i3.483">current patchwork of school-based meal programming across Canada</a> also creates an unhealthy and unsustainable reliance on volunteers and charitable giving. Food companies have been free to strategically position themselves as <a href="https://groceryfoundation.com/pages/toonies-for-tummies">key players in food security through philanthropy</a>. </p>
<p>If Big Food becomes even more involved with school food, who will really benefit? Our children, or shareholders? </p>
<p>The development of a national school food program will be attractive economically to the food industry as multi-national food companies will see it as a way <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.06.013">to increase sales and introduce their brands to children at a young age.</a> </p>
<p>By subtly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2013.878454">positioning their products in schools, the food industry exerts its power to establish its credibility</a>. We saw this with the infamous <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/07/school-lunch-conference-cheetos/">“school-approved” Cheetos</a> in the National School Lunch Program in the United States. </p>
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<img alt="A young blond child finishes what's left of a Cheeto." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538166/original/file-20230719-17-c6fftb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538166/original/file-20230719-17-c6fftb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538166/original/file-20230719-17-c6fftb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538166/original/file-20230719-17-c6fftb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538166/original/file-20230719-17-c6fftb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538166/original/file-20230719-17-c6fftb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538166/original/file-20230719-17-c6fftb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Cheetos were once approved in a school lunch program in the United States.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Flickr)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<h2>Burnishing reputations</h2>
<p>At a time when food companies are attempting to engage in <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/grocery-ceo-ottawa-1.6771887">reputational management</a> in the face of soaring food costs, being seen as the solution to food insecurity might help their image. </p>
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<p>In fact, the food industry promoting itself as being “<a href="https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4138_d04df8b8b99788d0c6cb82046afcdaec.pdf">part of the solution</a>” represents an evolution of non-market tactics that are designed to effectively manipulate public and political perspectives, including regulatory decisions, to favour industry interests over others. This includes children’s health. </p>
<p>There are three steps the federal government must take to prevent corporate influence in the development of a national school program:</p>
<h2>1. Define the role of the food industry</h2>
<p>In collaboration with the provinces and territories, the government must define the role of the food industry and commercial entities in providing food to schools. Schoolchildren must be protected from marketing campaigns and efforts to make junk food more readily available.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.180037">Ultimately, food companies and their charitable foundations should not have a seat at the table</a> in the development of a national school food program or its governance.</p>
<h2>2. Invest in the school food program</h2>
<p>The government must <a href="https://www.healthyschoolfood.ca/proposals-for-a-national-school-nutritious-meal-program">properly fund a national school food program</a>. This will allow Indigenous governments, provinces and territories, along with local school communities, to tailor and customize their food programming free from the influence of corporate charitable giving. </p>
<p>Although the level of investment to make a national program a reality is likely to be significant, relying on the corporate sector to offset these costs should not be an option.</p>
<h2>3. Pass protective legislation</h2>
<p>The federal government can make <a href="https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/44-1/c-252">Bill C-252</a>, the Child Health Protection Act, a government bill and increase the chances of its speedy adoption. </p>
<p>It’s currently a private member’s bill tabled by Liberal MP Patricia Lattanzio to amend the Food and Drugs Act and prohibit food and beverage marketing directed at children.</p>
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<p>Bill C-252 isn’t perfect, and regulations would need to be drafted. But it could provide an additional layer of protection to prevent corporate entities from marketing to children while they’re attending school.</p>
<p>Developing and implementing a national school food program can help build the foundations for a healthy population over the long term. The federal government must limit the influence of the food industry on a national school food program to protect the health and well-being of Canadian children and youth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209724/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara FL Kirk receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Public Health Agency of Canada. She is a member of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, a board member of Velo Canada Bikes, a not-for-profit that promotes everyday cycling in Canada, and an academic member of Obesity Canada, a national obesity charity, made up of health-care professionals, researchers, policy makers and people with an interest in obesity.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amberley T. Ruetz co-Chairs the Canadian Association for Food Studies' School Food Working Group, which is a member of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, and is a member of Farm to Cafeteria Canada's Advisory Council. Ruetz has received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Prowse receives funding from Canadian Cancer Society, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and Health Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steve Machat does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An effective national school food program can help build the foundations for a healthy population. That’s why Ottawa must limit the influence of the food industry on a national school food program.Sara F.L. Kirk, Professor of Health Promotion; Scientific Director of the Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie UniversityAmberley T. Ruetz, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, College of Medicine, University of SaskatchewanRachel Prowse, Assistant Professor, Nutrition and Dietetics, Memorial University of NewfoundlandSteve Machat, PhD Candidate, Interdisciplinary Studies, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1455732020-10-13T16:36:33Z2020-10-13T16:36:33ZCare is the secret ingredient in school lunch programs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362684/original/file-20201009-23-107f8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C5725%2C3802&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">School food programs can also serve children’s critical social and emotional needs. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“Now you just have to starve,” a student told us bluntly when we asked about their new school lunch program.</p>
<p>The school had recently transitioned from an in-house program, with meals prepared and served by lunch staff, to an externally catered program where lunches were ordered online and dropped off. With the loss of familiar lunch staff, children no longer knew who to turn to when they got the wrong lunch order, didn’t have lunch at all or their sandwich from home was mouldy.</p>
<p>These kids taught us an important lesson: school food programs work better when they actively nurture care and connection.</p>
<p>We study the <a href="https://www.landfood.ubc.ca/a-community-partnership-aiming-to-let-no-child-go-hungry/">impacts of school food programs on the well-being of children and families in British Columbia</a>. In 2019, we documented lunchtime in three different schools to learn what mattered to students as they transitioned to a new model of school lunch. </p>
<p>As we were <a href="http://lfs-jblack.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2020/10/BC-School-Lunch-Program-Full-Report-June-2020.pdf">writing our report of the study’s findings</a>, what struck us most was how often students talked about food as a source of care.</p>
<h2>Kids talked about care</h2>
<p>At its most basic, care is any activity done to support and promote life, argues University of Minnesota political scientist Joan Tronto who examines the <a href="https://nyupress.org/9780814782781/caring-democracy/">role of care in democratic societies</a>. By this definition, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12465">feeding children is a crucial aspect of caring for them</a>. </p>
<p>Yet surprisingly, care is often overlooked in public conversations about school food. <a href="https://www.healthyschoolfood.ca/">School food advocates</a> typically focus on the potential of schools to provide nutritious food and alleviate hunger. But the caring labour of connecting kids with food is absent in this argument.</p>
<p>In contrast, in our research, we found care was a constant refrain in children’s talk about lunch. Students told us how much it meant when parents packed foods they enjoyed, when classmates looked out for each other and shared food, and when the former lunch workers paid attention to what they liked and kept a watchful eye out for students. These acts of care are likely even more important now, amidst the stressors of going to school in the pandemic and as children adjust to life at school after months of lockdown. </p>
<p>Our research indicates that when school food programs value and facilitate human connection, they can help improve children’s access to healthy food and nurture their <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/protective/school_connectedness.htm">sense of security and well-being</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A tray showing a bowl of pasta, apple and carton of milk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361388/original/file-20201002-17-7nw1x2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361388/original/file-20201002-17-7nw1x2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361388/original/file-20201002-17-7nw1x2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361388/original/file-20201002-17-7nw1x2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361388/original/file-20201002-17-7nw1x2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361388/original/file-20201002-17-7nw1x2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361388/original/file-20201002-17-7nw1x2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A typical meal from the former school food program prepared by in-house lunch staff.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Sinikka Elliott)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Relationships behind the food</h2>
<p><a href="https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/femeco/v24y2018i3p89-112.html">Students benefit</a> when they know that trusted adults are looking out for their food needs. Lunch workers in the schools we studied connected with students in other ways, too. Cheery personalized notes handwritten on paper lunch bags by former lunch staff put a smile on students’ faces. Many students talked about the care and thoughtfulness of the staff in knowing them and their food preferences.</p>
<p>Students valued the caring work of school lunch so much that it shaped their ideas of the food itself. To our surprise, when we visited schools during lunchtime and asked students what they thought about the catered and in-house programs, some students had very different impressions of the food from the two programs — impressions that didn’t really align with the actual food.</p>
<p>“It’s airplane food,” one student said, referring to the catered food. “It’s less homemade,” said another. </p>
<p>“Homemade” typically means made from scratch using fresh ingredients. In fact, the new catered program involved more scratch cooking and fewer prepackaged foods than the old program. </p>
<p>Yet students responded not to what was on the menu, but to the relationships behind the food. The lunch worker who used to make their brown-bag lunches was widely known and liked by students. The meaning of the food changed for them when they didn’t view it as part of the school’s caring web of support. Now it came from an anonymous, for-profit catering company.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A picture of an entree in a disposable container." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357554/original/file-20200910-18-7f85kb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357554/original/file-20200910-18-7f85kb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357554/original/file-20200910-18-7f85kb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357554/original/file-20200910-18-7f85kb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357554/original/file-20200910-18-7f85kb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357554/original/file-20200910-18-7f85kb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357554/original/file-20200910-18-7f85kb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Catered lunches involved more scratch cooking and fewer prepackaged foods than the former in-house program, but some students viewed it as less homemade.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Sinikka Elliott)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Limited influence over catering</h2>
<p>The new program was intended to broaden the reach of school meals to more students, yet fewer children opted into the program during its first few months. Both the new and old programs were voluntary, and students in need could receive reduced price or free lunches.</p>
<p>We spoke to school staff after the catered program was implemented. With the change, they found there were hoops to jump through to make adjustments and they worried this affected students’ access. From frozen accounts due to nonpayment, to students getting the wrong meal with no option to whip up a substitute, school staff felt they could no longer properly care for students. </p>
<p>Staff expressed distress at not being able to help their students. As one staff member told us, “We just want to help people. We just want to feed the kids.”</p>
<p>Because the program was operated by the catering company, school staff had limited influence over it compared to the former program. The changes made it hard for them to meet their students’ basic needs.</p>
<h2>Care on the menu</h2>
<p>Designing effective meal programs to ensure no child misses out means acknowledging that feeding children requires nurturing, caring relationships. School lunch workers aren’t the only ones who can do this work, but our research suggests that they can serve at the heart of vibrant care infrastructures in schools that anticipate, identify and meet children’s diverse needs for food and connection. </p>
<p>But this requires giving them the time and autonomy to craft and run programs that work best for their students. Sadly, school lunch workers — like care workers in general — are often <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/04/05/cafeteria-workers-risking-their-health-feed-vulnerable-students-column/2939584001/">overworked, poorly paid and undervalued</a>. </p>
<p>As children acclimatize to being back to school after months of <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/world/children-risk-lasting-psychological-distress-coronavirus-lockdown-save-children">social isolation</a>, parents, schools and policy makers need to work collectively towards policy actions to lessen <a href="https://www.unicef.ca/en/press-release/impact-covid-19-children-canada-short-medium-and-long-term-mitigation-strategies">the impacts</a> of the many stressors that children faced during school closures and as the pandemic continues. </p>
<p>In the United States, health policy experts <a href="http://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp2005638">consider federally run school food programs</a> to be a key element of the country’s COVID-19 response and strategy to support children through the pandemic.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.unicef.org/media/68291/file/Mitigating-the-Effects-of-the-COVID-19-Pandemic-on-Food-and-Nutrition-of-school-children.pdf">UNICEF</a> also recommends prioritizing child nutrition and feeding programs as a core strategy for supporting school children globally, regardless of whether schools remain open or are closed due to COVID-19. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-budget-pledges-a-canadian-school-food-program-but-recipe-requires-funding-112789">Federal budget pledges a Canadian school food program but recipe requires funding</a>
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<p>Canada now has a <a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-budget-pledges-a-canadian-school-food-program-but-recipe-requires-funding-112789">valuable opportunity to recognize school food programs</a> as part of the national COVID-19 strategy. The recipe for successfully supporting children through this pandemic and beyond should not overlook the special ingredient of care in school lunches.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145573/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sinikka Elliott receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the Vancouver Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Black receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She is affiliated with the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of British Columbia where she is a 2020-2021 Wall Scholar. </span></em></p>School food programs should be key elements of governments’ COVID-19 responses. In planning these, the relationships that are part of providing food matter.Sinikka Elliott, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of British ColumbiaJennifer Black, Associate Professor of Food, Nutrition and Health, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1208112019-07-29T11:34:40Z2019-07-29T11:34:40ZWhy are school lunches still so unhealthy?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285510/original/file-20190724-110154-1gn9a2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Do you know what your child is eating at school?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are more than <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ijpo.12185">91m school children</a>
worldwide now defined as living with obesity – and the UK is in the top 20 countries for obesity levels. In the UK, the obesity rate for children doubles <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-child-measurement-programme-ncmp-trends-in-child-bmi">during primary school</a> years – and then <a href="https://theconversation.com/physical-activity-programmes-in-schools-arent-working-heres-why-109684">increases again in secondary school</a>.</p>
<p>This is in part because teenagers in the UK <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/772434/NDNS_UK_Y1-9_report.pdf">consume poor quality diets</a>, low in nutrients and high in processed foods. Indeed, girls in England do not get essential nutrients required for <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/772434/NDNS_UK_Y1-9_report.pdf">reproductive and overall good health</a> (vitamin A, folate, iron). And young people are also generally low in at least five micro-nutrients needed for development, immunity, mood and energy levels. </p>
<p>Teenagers in the UK also consume the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/772434/NDNS_UK_Y1-9_report.pdf">highest amount of added sugars and sugary drinks</a> compared to all other age groups. Teenagers also consume the highest amount of breakfast cereal products (that are also known to be filled with sugar), and confectionery. And only <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/772434/NDNS_UK_Y1-9_report.pdf">4% of UK teens meet daily fibre recommendations</a>. This is concerning given that dietary fibre is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease, <a href="https://www.diabetes.co.uk/news/2018/mar/high-fibre-diet-has-benefits-for-type-2-diabetes,-study-claims-96054636.html">type 2 diabetes</a> and cancer. Young people are also <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/772434/NDNS_UK_Y1-9_report.pdf">only eating around two and half portions</a>of their recommended five a day of fruit and vegetables. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childhood-obesity-a-plan-for-action">Research</a> also shows that teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds have <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-child-measurement-programme-ncmp-trends-in-child-bmi">lower micro-nutrient and fibre intake</a> than their more well-off peers. And findings from the <a href="https://foodfoundation.org.uk/">Food Foundation</a> think-tank show that almost 4m children in the UK live in households that <a href="https://foodfoundation.org.uk/publications/">struggle to afford to buy</a> enough fruit, vegetables, fish and other healthy foods to meet the official nutrition guidelines.</p>
<p>These types of dietary patterns can not only have negative consequences on the physical health of teenagers, but they can also impact their mental health. Research shows malnourished teens are <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0024805">less likely to fulfil their potential</a> at school, and more likely to suffer with poor mental health.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-best-way-for-children-to-lose-weight-heres-what-the-research-says-79714">What's the best way for children to lose weight? Here's what the research says</a>
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<h2>Why the poor choices?</h2>
<p>But brain changes that occur with puberty coincide with the transition to secondary school and these changes can influence attitudes and behaviours in all areas – <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-34828-010">including healthy eating</a>. The desire to fit in is strong, and liking healthy food can be seen as “uncool” by teens. Young people also <a href="https://academic.oup.com/her/article/20/4/458/632655">place great importance</a> on social time within the school day. And many teenagers describe the school dining hall as an <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0305764X.2019.1630367">intimidating place</a> with poor food choices and teachers roaming – making it somewhere they would rather avoid. There’s also often long queues and a lack of perceived privacy in school canteens – which can lead to teenagers skipping lunch and getting most of their energy intake at morning break or at the end of the school day from local food outlets.</p>
<p>There’s also the wider issue that school food policy has failed to sustain quality nutrition – particularly in secondary schools. <a href="http://www.akofoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2_0_fell-report-final.pdf">Researchers from the Jamie Oliver Foundation</a> were alarmed to find many schools are still serving high fat and sugary foods at break and lunch – including pasties, pizza, doughnuts, muffins and cookies, often in large portion sizes. This is despite Oliver campaigning tirelessly over the last decade to change the nation’s eating habits after <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464070/">Jamie’s School Dinners</a> aired in 2005 to reveal the terrible standards of school food in the UK. <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11821747/Jamie-Oliver-admits-school-dinners-campaign-failed-because-eating-well-is-a-middle-class-preserve.html">Oliver has since said</a> that his push to improve nutrition for children didn’t work because eating well is still seen as a “posh and middle-class” concern.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285511/original/file-20190724-110158-12p6itv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285511/original/file-20190724-110158-12p6itv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285511/original/file-20190724-110158-12p6itv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285511/original/file-20190724-110158-12p6itv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285511/original/file-20190724-110158-12p6itv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285511/original/file-20190724-110158-12p6itv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285511/original/file-20190724-110158-12p6itv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Processed foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt have become a mainstay of lunches in schools across the UK.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>A lack of continuity between successive governments and poor consistency in the evaluation of school food standards may also be to blame. Indeed, the current <a href="https://www.schoolfoodplan.com">school food plan</a> that provides practical and specific guidance on the types of food and drinks schools should and shouldn’t offer – <a href="http://www.schoolfoodplan.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/SFP-governance-and-funding.pdf">has not been evaluated since 2013</a>. And while <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childhood-obesity-a-plan-for-action-chapter-2">it’s a requirement for schools to follow this plan</a>, in reality there can be a great deal of difference in how schools feed their children.</p>
<h2>Time to act</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/mind-the-doughnut-emotional-eating-is-a-habit-that-can-start-in-childhood-58602">Research shows</a> that eating habits people pick up in their youth <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jpubhealth/article/28/1/10/1553731">tend to track into adulthood</a>, which makes the teenage years an important stage to start forming healthy habits. So rather than placing the full responsibility of food choice onto teens, more needs to be done to enable young people to make healthier choices. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285513/original/file-20190724-110170-kx5nt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285513/original/file-20190724-110170-kx5nt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285513/original/file-20190724-110170-kx5nt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285513/original/file-20190724-110170-kx5nt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285513/original/file-20190724-110170-kx5nt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285513/original/file-20190724-110170-kx5nt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285513/original/file-20190724-110170-kx5nt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">School lunches should be nutritious and delicious.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>This can include consulting with pupils to engage them in making decisions about the dining room environment and better food education. Reducing choices and streamlining menus has also been shown to improve <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael_Nelson12/publication/265755030_First_annual_survey_of_take_up_of_school_meals_in_England/links/5630bd2d08ae1bdcebcf2383.pdf">healthier food choices</a>. Though to improve teenager health in a sustained way, wider issues <a href="https://theconversation.com/advertising-has-the-power-to-make-children-fat-and-this-needs-to-stop-58899">such as food advertising</a> and food development also need to be looked at. </p>
<p>But of course it <a href="https://theconversation.com/obesity-crisis-cant-be-solved-by-schools-major-new-study-91265">isn’t just all down to schools</a>, parents can also help massively by creating a home environment that supports healthy eating. Here, patience is a must and convenience is key – offer carrots or chopped fruit when they are hungry coming through the door after school. And <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-parents-and-pupils-are-finding-healthy-packed-lunches-hard-to-stomach-65419">be the example</a> – have fun trying new fruits or vegetables – and help kids to recognise that fuelling with nourishing foods impacts how we all feel, think, look and perform.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120811/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelly Rose does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Obesity crisis: pizza, pastries, chips, donuts, cookies, hot dogs, and burgers – just your average school lunch.Kelly Rose, PhD Researcher in the School of Science, Engineering and Design, Teesside UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1016352018-08-30T21:53:11Z2018-08-30T21:53:11Z‘Farm-to-school’ movement takes root in Canada<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234148/original/file-20180829-195325-1d0fiie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Farm-to-school programs aim to bring healthy, local food into schools, foster food literacy and enhance community connectedness </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="http://www.farmtocafeteriacanada.ca/2017/10/farm-to-school-takes-root-in-canada">“farm-to-school” movement</a> is growing fast across Canada. </p>
<p>More than 40,000 students were eating local fruits and vegetables at 150 Ontario schools during 2017-18, via the <a href="http://www.osnp.ca/tasty_ontario_tuesdays">Tasty Ontario Tuesdays</a> program. </p>
<p>Led by the southwest branch of the <a href="http://www.osnp.ca">Ontario Student Nutrition Program (OSNP)</a>, with financial support from the Greenbelt Fund in partnership with the Government of Ontario and Foodland Ontario, this program has purchased and delivered over $55,000 of local produce to schools from Ontario farmers. </p>
<p>Farm-to-school is a long-established phenomenon in the United States. The <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10460-008-9173-6">health impacts</a> have been well-researched and the economic benefits, <a href="http://www.farmtocafeteriacanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Upstream-HIA-Oregon-Farm-to-School-policy.pdf">such as the creation of new jobs</a>, have been documented. </p>
<p>According to the last United States Department of Agriculture’s <a href="https://farmtoschoolcensus.fns.usda.gov/">Farm-to-School Census</a>, 42,587 schools participated in farm-to-school activities, reaching 23.6 million children and incorporating almost <a href="https://farmtoschoolcensus.fns.usda.gov/news/new-usda-data-show-growing-farm-school-efforts-help-reduce-plate-waste-increase-student">$800 million worth of local foods</a>. </p>
<p>As a former OSNP practitioner and <a href="https://arrellfoodinstitute.ca/inaugural-scholarships/">Arrell Food Scholar</a> at the University of Guelph, I am researching the economic impact of the spread of these programs throughout Ontario, with my PhD adviser <a href="https://www.uoguelph.ca/geography/faculty/smithers-john">John Smithers</a>. Our research will examine the farm-to-school phenomenon as an agri-food value chain and assess how these programs might evolve to expand the scope and sustainability of local food systems in Ontario. </p>
<p>Little attention has been paid to this “farm” side of the farm-to-school equation, or how small and medium-sized farmers can benefit from this rapidly expanding market and adjust their practices to meet the needs of schools.</p>
<h2>Fostering food literacy</h2>
<p>“Farm-to-school” in Canada includes preschool to campus initiatives, all of which strive to put more healthy, local food on the minds and plates of students. </p>
<p>While models and activities are unique to each school and community, common to all are their efforts to: bring healthy, local food into schools; provide students with hands-on learning opportunities that foster food literacy; strengthen local food systems and enhance community connectedness. </p>
<p>Tasty Ontario Tuesdays, for example, provides a weekly seasonal feature and educational materials for schools to incorporate into student nutrition programs.</p>
<p>As such, these initiatives have been found to offer many <a href="http://www.farmtocafeteriacanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/f2s_aboutus_2015_en_online.pdf">educational, health, agricultural, environmental and economic benefits</a>. </p>
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<p>Farm-to-school is not a new idea. Agricultural specialists and teachers have been supporting school gardens, greenhouses and agricultural courses since the early 1900s. Inspired by the U.S. farm-to-school movement, a new wave of grass-roots activity began in the mid-2000s in pockets across the country. </p>
<p>Ramping up in Ontario, the first centrally co-ordinated farm-to-school program started in Kent County. Located in southwestern Ontario between Lake St. Clair on the west and Lake Erie on the east, this <a href="https://www.chatham-kent.ca/Newcomers/work/entrepreneurship/agriculture-profile">area produces approximately 20 per cent of all vegetables grown in the province</a>. </p>
<p>Despite this, as the former student nutrition co-ordinator Elaine Lewis shared, “our people in Chatham-Kent are low in their consumption of fruit and vegetables.” And the Chatham-Kent farm-to-school program emerged in 2014 to fill this gap. </p>
<p>Since then, similar farm-to-school programs have been offered by OSNP and have expanded across southwestern Ontario to London-Middlesex, Oxford, Elgin, Grey and Perth counties. </p>
<p>In Dufferin County and Caledon, Ont., the <a href="http://headwatersfoodandfarming.ca/farm-to-school/">Headwaters Food and Farming Alliance</a> offers a different flavour of farm-to-school programming. Farmer-led workshops in school and monthly local food boxes for students and staff are a sample of the initiatives, which help students explore local foods and farming life.</p>
<h2>Salad bar lunches</h2>
<p>In 2016, <a href="http://www.farmtocafeteriacanada.ca">Farm to Cafeteria Canada</a> administered grants to 50 schools in Ontario and British Columbia to support farm-to-school salad bar lunch programs. And in 2017 they announced <a href="https://3blmedia.com/News/Whole-Kids-Foundation-and-Farm-Cafeteria-Canada-Announce-Largest-Federally-Supported-Multi">expansion to three other provinces</a> — Québec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador. The initiative is now in a total of five provinces, across 92 schools (and 14 campuses).</p>
<p>A dozen agencies including the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Whole Kids Foundation and The Heart and Stroke Foundation have now invested more than $3.5 million to scale up farm-to-school through a new pan-Canadian initiative: <a href="http://www.farmtocafeteriacanada.ca/our-work/about-farm-to-school-canada-digs-in/">Farm-to-School Canada Digs In!</a> </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234149/original/file-20180829-195313-alabhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234149/original/file-20180829-195313-alabhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234149/original/file-20180829-195313-alabhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234149/original/file-20180829-195313-alabhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234149/original/file-20180829-195313-alabhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234149/original/file-20180829-195313-alabhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234149/original/file-20180829-195313-alabhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Recipients are already reporting positive outcomes of improved student behaviour, improved food literacy and more.</p>
<p>“The students were lined up and peering through the (glass) door,” shared one parent and program co-ordinator. “It was like the salad bar lunch was a rock concert and the students were diehard fans.”</p>
<h2>Connecting children to farmers</h2>
<p>Farm-to-school programs are rapidly growing across Canada but there has been little research to evaluate their potential to support local food systems and economic development. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.farmtocafeteriacanada.ca/our-work/school-food-map/">Farm to Cafeteria Canada’s School Food Map</a> shows a glimpse of this expansion; over $16 million of local food purchases have been self-reported to date. </p>
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<p>In recognition of this growing movement, the <a href="http://www.farmtocafeteriacanada.ca/news/farm-to-school/">first National Farm-to-School Conference</a> will be taking place on May 16-17, 2019, in Victoria. </p>
<p>We hope this research makes it easier to get more local food into schools, and re-connect children to the farmers that grew it. </p>
<p><em>This is a corrected version of a story originally published Aug. 30, 2018. The original story said Farm to Cafeteria Canada administered grants to schools in Ontario and Québec in 2016. In fact, grants were administered to schools in Ontario and British Columbia in 2016.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101635/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amberley T. Ruetz receives funding from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for her current research on the economic impact of farm-to-school program. She is a member of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, which is advocating for a national school food program. She also consults with the Ontario Student Nutrition Program, Southwest Region. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Smithers receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for his ongoing research program dealing with farm and rural community change and sustainability and local food systems.</span></em></p>New research will examine how the emerging farm-to-school movement can support local food systems, as well as providing healthy lunches for children.Amberley T. Ruetz, PhD Candidate in Geography and Arrell Food Scholar, University of GuelphJohn Smithers, Professor of Geography, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1020182018-08-28T21:06:21Z2018-08-28T21:06:21ZHow to make a national school food program happen<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233371/original/file-20180824-149463-4d0eb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In Rome, 70 per cent of ingredients in school meals are required by law to be organic. In Brazil, food is a constitutional right for children. Canada lags shamefully behind.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As summer winds down and a new school year begins, the conversation about food in schools is once again heating up. </p>
<p>In June, Sen. Art Eggleton tabled a motion <a href="http://healthscienceandlaw.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Senate-M-358.EF_-1.pdf">calling on the federal government to consult with key stakeholders to develop a cost-shared universal nutrition program across Canada</a>. </p>
<p>He is not the first senator to have made this call. Back in 1997, the <a href="http://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/36-1/FINA/report-2/page-45#D">House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance</a> made the recommendation “to create a national school nutrition program” but no action was ever taken. In 2015, <a href="https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/committee/421/SOCI/Reports/2016-02-25_Revised_report_Obesity_in_Canada_e.pdf">the Standing Committee on Social Affairs Science and Technology and the Minister of Health</a> advocated “for childcare facility and school programs related to breakfast and lunch programs… and nutrition literacy courses.” </p>
<p>A universal, national school food program would make sure that all students from kindergarten to Grade 12 have the same access to healthy food in school. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-your-kids-need-a-national-school-food-program-83135">The case for such a program in Canada is already strong</a>. So what needs to happen to make this a reality? </p>
<h2>A patchwork of programs</h2>
<p>Canada is lagging behind other high-income countries in providing nutritious food to children. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/890-building-the-future-children-and-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-rich-countries.html">UNICEF report</a> published last year, Canada ranked 37th out of 41 countries on access to nutritious food for children. That is below the United States. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233359/original/file-20180823-149469-1ahlygh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233359/original/file-20180823-149469-1ahlygh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233359/original/file-20180823-149469-1ahlygh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233359/original/file-20180823-149469-1ahlygh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233359/original/file-20180823-149469-1ahlygh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233359/original/file-20180823-149469-1ahlygh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233359/original/file-20180823-149469-1ahlygh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">By using local foods, a national school lunch program could double as a local economic growth strategy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>One reason for this is Canada’s patchwork of programs that serve only a fraction of kids. Funding for programs comes from several different stakeholders, including provincial and territorial governments, municipal governments and charities. This contrasts sharply with school food programs in other countries.</p>
<p>In Brazil for example, food is a constitutional right, which means that a national program feeds <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233876347_The_Brazilian_School_Feeding_Programme_an_Example_of_an_Integrated_Programme_in_Support_of_Food_and_Nutrition_Security">47 million students at 190,000 schools each day</a>. </p>
<p>The benefits are multiple, not only improving student nutrition, health and social development, but providing wider employment. The program supports local food systems and regional economic development, since 30 per cent of food purchased for the program comes from small family farms.</p>
<p>In Italy, school meals are a central part of education about national culture and health. In Rome, <a href="http://www.gamberorosso.it/en/food-news/1045774-school-lunches-in-italy-setting-a-healthy-pattern-for-adult-life">70 per cent of ingredients in school meals are required by law to be organic.</a> These are also local or regional foods, making school meals a local economic growth strategy as well. </p>
<p>In Finland, school lunches, which are free for all students, <a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/00070700910931940">are the healthiest meal that students eat during the whole day.</a></p>
<h2>It’s time for action</h2>
<p>These international examples illustrate how healthy food provision is prioritized elsewhere in the world. This pays off through an impressive return on investment for school food programs — of <a href="http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/resources/wfp281517.pdf">$3 to $10 for every dollar invested</a>. </p>
<p>Because children’s eating habits are more easily influenced than those of adults, interventions aimed at children are also more likely to have the potential to reduce future health-care costs. </p>
<p>Children spend on average six to seven hours or 50 per cent of their time awake at school which makes schools the ideal medium for instilling lifelong eating habits <a href="http://dcjournal.ca/doi/10.3148/cjdpr-2017-029">in a non-stigmatizing way</a>. </p>
<p>Public support for a national program is growing. Martha O’Connor, former director general of the now defunct Breakfast for Learning Program affirms that <a href="http://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/36-1/FINA/report-2/page-45#D">“70 per cent of Canadians believe that child hunger in Canada is more important than national unity or the deficit.</a> Strategic investment in a national school nutrition program is an investment in the future of all Canadians.” </p>
<p>Political will is essential for a national school food program to become a reality. And Eggleton’s motion is catalyzing this important conversation about the state of children’s health in Canada. </p>
<h2>Soda tax as revenue</h2>
<p>Growing rates of diabetes, obesity and heart disease among Canada’s population are unsustainable. <a href="https://foodsecurecanada.org/sites/foodsecurecanada.org/files/coalition_for_healthy_school_food_0.pdf">The Coalition for Healthy School Food</a>, comprised of 40 organizations across Canada, estimates that a national, universal healthy school food program would cost $1.8 billion per year. </p>
<p>The Coalition is calling on the Government of Canada to initially invest $360 million, through provincial and territorial transfers, in healthy school food programs. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233525/original/file-20180824-149484-yc7f7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233525/original/file-20180824-149484-yc7f7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233525/original/file-20180824-149484-yc7f7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233525/original/file-20180824-149484-yc7f7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233525/original/file-20180824-149484-yc7f7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233525/original/file-20180824-149484-yc7f7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233525/original/file-20180824-149484-yc7f7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A soda tax could almost finance a national school food program throughout Canada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The eventual goal would be universal coverage, through a cost-shared model of joint investments from the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments, as well as some investment from not-for-profits and parents where applicable. </p>
<p>The United Kingdom recently implemented a promising strategy of directing the revenue from a <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/546588/Childhood_obesity_2016__2__acc.pdf">national sugary drinks levy</a> to fund school food programs. Diabetes Canada, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Childhood Obesity Foundation <a href="https://sugarydrinkslevy.ca/">are making the same recommendation for Canada</a>. </p>
<p>A soda tax could produce $1.7 billion in annual revenue for Canada, just short of the Coalition’s estimate to fund a national school food program. </p>
<p>Given the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4907549/">burden that chronic, diet-related diseases already place on the Canadian health care system</a> — a cost estimated at $190 billion each year — a $1.8 billion investment in the health of our next generation is surely a small price to pay? </p>
<p>The cost of implementing a national school food program will pay for itself through <a href="https://www.sunlife.ca/ca/Learn+and+Plan/Health/Community/Feeding+our+future+Why+school+nutrition+programs+matter?vgnLocale=en_CA">improved mental health, learning and other health outcomes</a>. </p>
<p>Schools have a strong history of successful public health intervention and a national school food program is a critical investment that we all can support. It’s a no-brainer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102018/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara FL Kirk receives funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Heart and Stroke, the Lawson Foundation, the Max Bell Foundation and the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation. She is a member of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, which is advocating for a national school food program. She is also a board member of Canada Bikes, a not-for-profit that promotes everyday cycling in Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amberley T. Ruetz receives funding from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for her current research on the economic impact of the farm-to-school program. She is a member of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, which is advocating for a national school food program. She also consults with the Ontario Student Nutrition Program, Southwest Region. </span></em></p>There would be many benefits from a national school food program, including a chance to teach children healthy eating habits that could last a lifetime. Why can’t it happen?Sara F.L. Kirk, Professor of Health Promotion; Scientific Director of the Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie UniversityAmberley T. Ruetz, PhD Candidate in Geography, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/955692018-04-25T13:42:49Z2018-04-25T13:42:49ZBefore banning fast food shops near schools, give pupils a reason to dine in<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216309/original/file-20180425-175069-p3a2fb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C30%2C4999%2C3323&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/primary-school-kids-eat-lunch-cafeteria-432895708">Shutterstock.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/23/ministers-urged-to-ban-fast-food-outlets-from-opening-near-schools">A ban</a> on fast food shops operating within 400 metres of schools has been called for by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. At a time when nearly one third of children aged two to 15 <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childhood-obesity-a-plan-for-action/childhood-obesity-a-plan-for-action">are overweight or obese</a>, this measure sends a strong message to young people and their families, about the importance of cutting down on fast food. Even so, I doubt it would work.</p>
<p>Young people from poorer backgrounds <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/dec/01/schoolchildren-poor-areas-exposed-fast-food-takeaways">are more likely</a> to go past food shops on their way to or from school, compared with pupils from wealthier backgrounds. Having the opportunity to buy food or drink makes people more likely to do so, so it’s important to consider access to food shops, when searching for ways to encourage young people to eat better. </p>
<p>But many young people go out to buy food before, during or after school at shops further than 400 metres away. Some will run to the shops during their lunch break, to get the food they want. Independent shops, in particular, understand their school-aged customers’ preferences, which are typically to buy something that fills them up quickly, at a price they can afford. </p>
<p>And it’s not just fast food shops which sell goods that are high in fat, salt or sugar; supermarkets also attract pupils with meal deals and other marketing promotions, which means that a group of friends can chip in to buy a multi-pack of donuts, for example, at a price that appeals to them.</p>
<h2>Reality bites</h2>
<p>If government is serious about enacting this kind of regulation, it would need to extend the ban to all food outlets within an 800-1,000 metre radius of schools. Otherwise, the policy will do little to change where young people buy their food and drink. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216311/original/file-20180425-175058-31hy2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216311/original/file-20180425-175058-31hy2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216311/original/file-20180425-175058-31hy2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216311/original/file-20180425-175058-31hy2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216311/original/file-20180425-175058-31hy2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216311/original/file-20180425-175058-31hy2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216311/original/file-20180425-175058-31hy2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Worth crossing the road for, apparently.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/1808768706/sizes/l">gruntzooki/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>Students from lower income families want their money to stretch as far as possible, so they are canny consumers when it comes to finding the best value chips, crisps or soft drinks. </p>
<p>Of course, this is not the food and drink that public health professionals such as myself would like young people to consume. But the reality is that most teenagers prioritise spending time with their friends over setting out to find healthier food or drink options.</p>
<h2>Consulting with caterers</h2>
<p>But there’s still a lot schools can do to help. Basic things, such as ensuring tables and chairs in the cafeteria are not broken; providing cool, fresh jugs of water; not pushing young people outside once they have eaten and taking the time to find out what students actually want to eat and drink. </p>
<p>These simple solutions come up time and again <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0305764X.2015.1110114">in research</a>, and still many schools find it difficult to consult with young people about improving the food and dining environment, in a way that will appeal to them. </p>
<p>Yet the big companies with contracts to provide food and drink in schools, such as <a href="http://cn.education.sodexo.com/6.3.1.php">Sodexo</a>, are increasingly willing to spend time producing strategies together with young people. School governors, head teachers and in-house catering staff need to prioritise working with contract caterers to come up with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cityfoodsym?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Ehashtag">new, inclusive ways</a> of persuading young people that school is the cool place to eat.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95569/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wendy Wills receives funding from Food Standards Scotland, the Food Standards Agency and the ESRC. </span></em></p>With obesity affecting so many students, it’s better to give them cheap, appealing food and drink choices at school.Wendy Wills, Professor of Food and Public Health, University of HertfordshireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/647242016-09-06T01:13:18Z2016-09-06T01:13:18ZDo kids who grow kale eat kale?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136447/original/image-20160902-20235-gp0h7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/5711747069/in/photostream/">woodleywonderworks</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s back-to-school time in the United States, and for countless children across the nation, it’s also time to get back into the school garden.</p>
<p>For centuries, <a href="http://4h.ucanr.edu/files/1229.pdf">educators and philosophers</a> have argued that garden-based learning improves children’s intelligence and boosts their personal health. In recent years, concerns related to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm">childhood obesity</a> and <a href="http://richardlouv.com/books/last-child/">young people’s disconnection from nature</a> have led to a revitalized interest in the topic.</p>
<p>Tens of thousands of American schools have some form of school garden. Many are located on school grounds and others are run by external community partners. Most are connected to the <a href="http://www.lifelab.org/for-educators/schoolgardens/">school’s curriculum</a>. For instance, seeds are used in science class to explain plant biology, fruits are used in social studies to teach world geography and the harvest is used in math to explore weights and measures. Some even incorporate food from the garden <a href="http://www.changelabsolutions.org/sites/default/files/SchoolGardenLiability_Memo_FINAL_20130621.pdf">into the school lunch.</a></p>
<p>As a researcher and an activist, I’ve spent the better part of the last decade working to promote a healthy, equitable and sustainable food system. Through this process, I have heard bold claims made about the power of garden-based learning to meet these challenges.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DC3H0sxg4tY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">School gardens claim a variety of benefits.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Given the enthusiasm that surrounds garden-based learning today, it’s worth taking stock of their overall impacts: Do school gardens actually improve the education and health of young people? </p>
<h2>Promoting school gardens</h2>
<p>School gardens have become a favorite strategy of prominent advocates in the <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2010/06/10/food-movement-rising/">“Good Food Movement.”</a> Both celebrity chef <a href="http://www.jamieskitchengarden.org/">Jamie Oliver</a> and First Lady <a href="http://www.letsmove.gov/school-garden-checklist">Michelle Obama</a> have been vocal supporters. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136324/original/image-20160901-1023-qei1o1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136324/original/image-20160901-1023-qei1o1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136324/original/image-20160901-1023-qei1o1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136324/original/image-20160901-1023-qei1o1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136324/original/image-20160901-1023-qei1o1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136324/original/image-20160901-1023-qei1o1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136324/original/image-20160901-1023-qei1o1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An elementary school garden with six raised beds is meant to help kids learn.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/15034204592/in/photolist-oUwef1-rLY5Ds-byvicG-q7EWPu-3cU2sx-4Jcqz7-6Rgdv3-oR7oB7-zy55s-6gQpec-7aSqxR-4JcmWU-sq8LAW-6z2y7i-9LRWZu-bWAuk7-7CDYgj-bY84jS-feikXW-5XjM6e-rZ88Hh-8e1yXP-86w2Jf-4JcnZs-JmYPFJ-g2n8Ba-c1WAw1-iodwji-iYAf82-q7EjCY-JJK4ph-57jSV2-oQtdUN-5xbSXp-7wTtde-sqg7q2-5UhLw5-4rXy9Y-8eC33Z-8cAbi9-qZacsY-8Ef6w6-7J76Sx-5TwvyE-4J85ND-oygA7v-4pkivD-q7TubT-suwYws-5qxPVs#undefined">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://foodtank.com/news/2015/07/urban-farms-and-gardens-are-feeding-cities-around-the-world">Nonprofit and grassroots groups</a>, who see these gardens as a way to provide fresh produce for the <a href="http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/definitions-of-food-security.aspx">food insecure</a>, have forged partnerships with local schools. Then there are service-based groups, such as <a href="http://foodcorps.org/">FoodCorps</a>, whose members spend one year in a low-income community to help establish gardens and develop other school food initiatives. </p>
<p>Philanthropic organizations like the <a href="https://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/HealthyKids/TeachingGardens/Teaching-Gardens_UCM_436602_SubHomePage.jsp">American Heart Association</a> have also sponsored the construction of hundreds of new school garden plots.</p>
<p>Taken together, upwards of <a href="http://www.bridgingthegapresearch.org/_asset/4q28pc/BTG_gardens_brief_FINAL_March2014.pdf">25 percent of public elementary schools</a> in the United States include some form of garden-based learning. School garden projects are located in every region of the country and serve students of all ages, ethnic backgrounds and socioeconomic classes.</p>
<h2>Transforming kids lives through gardens?</h2>
<p>Advocates argue that gardening helps kids make healthier eating choices. As the self-proclaimed <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/ron_finley_a_guerilla_gardener_in_south_central_la/transcript?language=en#t-448403">“Gangsta Gardener” Ron Finley put it in his popular TED Talk,</a> </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“If kids grow kale, kids eat kale.”</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136333/original/image-20160901-1015-br2wf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136333/original/image-20160901-1015-br2wf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136333/original/image-20160901-1015-br2wf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136333/original/image-20160901-1015-br2wf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136333/original/image-20160901-1015-br2wf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136333/original/image-20160901-1015-br2wf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136333/original/image-20160901-1015-br2wf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Does garden-based learning help school kids?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ugacommunications/6430961073/in/photolist-aNhmFc-noqgnz-bb3f8k-gKJsiV-k1yPm-8qVJ78-oTt85M-2HfDPD-fUfXdX-2KxMXL-acsMTN-nE3nGz-cGk1vq-eUy4SX-oxHGbp-sAqQS-7Ae3iw-86EUBe-7jMSXn-73CKzJ-cXJdEo-7Aahr4-srfq6V-f26qNf-rufie7-5eDDMb-9mAAqx-oQaz6E-6Wxyhm-tKd6Qp-8KVebW-86EUAe-oNaQ1A-oNaU7w-bWDE1g-5Ukyei-i4Uey1-8QeUgp-eFQ3cq-dqM7sW-eFJwNR-9TbQHt-Curwec-dKWRNj-nj8UUW-932q3K-e4VAqv-JnWz1b-o67vv5-qFZtvv#undefined">UGA College of Ag & Environmental Sciences - OCCS</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many proponents go even further, <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-heart-association-and-activist-kelly-meyer-team-up-to-plant-teaching-gardens-nationwide-103857488.html">suggesting</a> that garden-based learning can inspire a variety of healthy changes for the whole family, helping to reverse the so-called obesity epidemic. </p>
<p>Others, like <a href="https://edibleschoolyard.org/sites/default/files/Ten%20Years_Final_Single%20Page.pdf">Edible Schoolyard founder Alice Waters,</a> argue that experience in the garden can have a transformative impact on a child’s worldview, making sustainability “the lens through which they see the world.”</p>
<h2>Sure, gardens can help</h2>
<p>There is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that garden-based learning does yield educational, nutritional, ecological and social benefits. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ822027">several published studies</a> have shown that garden-based learning can increase students’ science knowledge and healthy food behaviors. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19846682">Other research</a> has shown that garden-based learning can help students better identify different types of vegetables as well as lead to more favorable opinions on eating vegetables.</p>
<p>In general, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00045608.2014.985627?journalCode=raag20">qualitative case studies</a> of garden-based learning have been encouraging, providing narratives of life-changing experiences for children and teachers alike. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136341/original/image-20160901-1048-k9erm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136341/original/image-20160901-1048-k9erm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136341/original/image-20160901-1048-k9erm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136341/original/image-20160901-1048-k9erm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136341/original/image-20160901-1048-k9erm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136341/original/image-20160901-1048-k9erm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136341/original/image-20160901-1048-k9erm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Do gardens improve the intake of fresh foods and fruit?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/57811430@N08/9712196647/in/photolist-fNexGk-cyxsjJ-cEzpKW-85hrBB-86S5gF-cEzqSy-cEznJY-bLnmd8-phahFZ-ei3PCx-uEAgph-cEzowu-86Vggq-8dnh5M-cEznYy-zoBxm-7zQE73-nv6Bb-8UC8yh-G2sWAf-7kHnFq-B9DkDT-tUHNV6-xc1hSM-rryQmW-qNb2hL-mKvdtV-8MCUGP-fNexHa-86S5GV-53GTT8-4uKwRs-53M8mN-EmE8D-fNexGv-LKeQN-p1cpTK-86S5t6-oZW8Br-7qnHYh-ec1cGb-gkftBq-pfEDES-2katmV-oZW95v-zbNv-cEzsUQ-oZWr91-5rqcya-oZX9PJ#undefined">RubyDW</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, when it comes to actually increasing the amount of fresh foods eaten by young people, improving their health outcomes or shaping their overall environmental attitudes, quantitative results have tended to show <a href="http://heb.sagepub.com/content/34/6/846.abstract">modest</a> gains <a href="http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations/2252/">at best</a>. Some of the most <a href="http://www.schoollunchinitiative.org/downloads/sli_eval_full_report_2010.pdf">highly developed school garden programs</a> have been able to increase student vegetable consumption by about a serving per day. But the research has not been able to show whether these gains are maintained over time. </p>
<p>A lack of definitive evidence has led <a href="https://modeledbehavior.com/2010/09/30/how-progressive-ideology-is-holding-back-the-healthy-schools-movement/">some critics</a> to argue that school gardens are simply not worth the time and investment, especially for lower-income students who could be concentrating on more traditional college prep studies. </p>
<p>The social critic Caitlin Flanagan <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/01/cultivating-failure/307819/">has gone so far as to say</a> that garden programs are a distraction that could create a “permanent, uneducated underclass.”</p>
<h2>There are no magic carrots</h2>
<p>There is no doubt that the power of garden-based learning is sometimes overstated.</p>
<p>Particularly when describing garden projects in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14733285.2016.1221058">popular narratives</a> imply that a child’s time in the garden will rescue her from a life of poverty and chronic disease. </p>
<p>I call this the “magic carrot” approach to garden-based learning. But as we all know, there are no magic carrots growing in the school garden. </p>
<p>Gardens alone will not eliminate <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/other/su6203.pdf">health disparities</a>, <a href="http://cepa.stanford.edu/educational-opportunity-monitoring-project/achievement-gaps/race/">close the educational achievement gap</a>, <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/06/27/1-demographic-trends-and-economic-well-being/st_2016-06-27_race-inequality-ch1-07/">fix unemployment</a> or solve <a href="http://ced.berkeley.edu/downloads/research/LUP.parks.pdf">environmental injustice</a>.</p>
<h2>When is a garden successful?</h2>
<p>For gardens to effectively promote learning and health, they must be supported and reinforced by the community as a whole. <a href="https://fluidsurveys.com/share/33316792afbb54f8210b/">Surveys of school garden practitioners</a> show that garden programs have serious potential to enhance school and neighborhood life – but only if certain conditions are met.</p>
<p>Notably, school gardens are most successful when they are not held afloat by a <a href="http://grist.org/article/behind-all-the-photo-opps-with-the-first-lady-school-gardens-are-in-despera/">single dedicated teacher</a>. Instead, multiple involved stakeholders can ensure that a garden doesn’t dry up after only a season or two.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136339/original/image-20160901-1015-ja4dbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136339/original/image-20160901-1015-ja4dbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136339/original/image-20160901-1015-ja4dbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136339/original/image-20160901-1015-ja4dbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136339/original/image-20160901-1015-ja4dbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136339/original/image-20160901-1015-ja4dbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136339/original/image-20160901-1015-ja4dbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">If kids grow kale, do they eat it?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/10334288213/in/photolist-gKcVQZ-7hbfxq-cZEHD9-bxaAgu-cZEFYq-cZEQcE-n31Asn-n3cmRR-5bbCuK-n3991Z-n3mQzE-n36iib-opaBP3-fTsywQ-984t1x-fTrrit-fTsWTa-fTsuGV-cZEr9E-9Lev6p-n3chX9-cZEk4h-cZEvgE-n351xk-cZEuKf-bL1Uok-cZEjsb-cZET9y-cZEqvf-cZEx4b-cZEscU-n33uSj-9KTKtj-cZEych-cZEP95-fTrzhA-abJ3CX-cZEaYd-5bfVTL-8eTyXE-8eQhj6-cZExBC-47i3Sb-A6D42H-eWzsPF-zdaqQy-c2dbau-fTsyuy-fTsybj-opaLHV#undefined">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, participation from administrators, families and neighborhood partners can turn a school garden into a <a href="http://foodtank.com/news/2016/08/five-questions-with-tony-hillery-founder-of-harlem-grown">dynamic and sustainable community hub</a>. </p>
<p>Many <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Doing-Nutrition-Differently-Critical-Approaches-to-Diet-and-Dietary-Intervention/Hayes-Conroy/p/book/9781409434795">experienced practitioners</a> have also shown that garden-based learning is more powerful when its curriculum reflects the cultural backgrounds of the young people it serves. When children of Mexican descent grow indigenous varieties of corn, or when African-American youth cultivate collard greens, the process of growing food can become a process of self-discovery and cultural celebration.</p>
<p>In other words, if kids grow kale, they might eat kale, but only if kale <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3759222/">is available in their neighborhood</a>, if their family can afford to buy kale and if they think eating kale is relevant to their culture and lifestyle. </p>
<h2>Creating valuable green space</h2>
<p>As my own <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520287457">research</a> has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWinO-QGi9k">highlighted</a>, there are organizations and schools across the country that incorporate garden-based learning into broader movements for social, environmental and <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/cultivating-food-justice">food justice</a>.</p>
<p>These groups recognize that school gardens alone will not magically fix the problems our nation faces. But as part of a long-term movement to improve community health, school gardens can provide a platform for experiential education, create valuable green space and foster a sense of empowerment in the minds and bodies of young Americans.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64724/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Garrett M. Broad does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>School garden projects are becoming hugely popular. Over 25 percent of public elementary schools include garden-based learning. Do these gardens improve the education and health of young people?Garrett M. Broad, Assistant Professor of Communication and Media Studies, Fordham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/608752016-06-22T14:25:28Z2016-06-22T14:25:28ZGhana’s school feeding scheme is slowly changing children’s lives<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126731/original/image-20160615-14057-15cyyi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children struggle to learn when they're hungry.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Bruno Domingos </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Millions of Ghanaian children <a href="http://uni.cf/1UOReAB">live in poverty</a>. About one in ten – roughly 1.27 million – come from households that are so poor they <a href="http://uni.cf/1UOReAB">can’t afford</a> the amount and type of food that’s needed to stave off malnutrition. </p>
<p>Without proper food, children are prone to stunted growth or are underweight for their age. And their schooling suffers, too: <a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001429/142929eo.pdf">research</a> has <a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0017/001780/178022e.pdf">repeatedly shown</a> that children struggle to learn when they are not properly fed and nourished. </p>
<p>A school feeding programme introduced by the Ghanaian government more than a decade ago has gone some way to tackling the problem of hunger. The programme has reached millions of children – and it’s been proved to keep them in school far longer than their hungry peers. Now some more work is needed to make the project sustainable and to ensure it doesn’t constantly have to rely on donor funds.</p>
<h2>Millions of children reached</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.schoolfeeding.gov.gh/">Ghana School Feeding Programme</a> was initiated in 2005 by the country’s government in collaboration with the Dutch government. Its primary objectives are to increase school enrolment, attendance and retention among children in kindergartens and primary schools. It also, of course, aims to reduce hunger and malnutrition. </p>
<p>The programme started as a pilot project with ten schools, one from each of Ghana’s ten regions. This was later increased to 298 schools, reaching about 234,000 children in 138 schooling districts. In March 2016, it was reaching more than 1.7 million children every day – about 30% of all Ghanaian primary and kindergarten pupils.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126476/original/image-20160614-29216-1wo1pma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126476/original/image-20160614-29216-1wo1pma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126476/original/image-20160614-29216-1wo1pma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126476/original/image-20160614-29216-1wo1pma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126476/original/image-20160614-29216-1wo1pma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126476/original/image-20160614-29216-1wo1pma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126476/original/image-20160614-29216-1wo1pma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126476/original/image-20160614-29216-1wo1pma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children line up for a meal at their school in Ghana.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Each day, children receive a hot, nutritious meal. This is made up of locally produced foods like rice, dried African locust bean seeds, African carp and sesame leaves, and of fortified food rations supplied by the World Food Programme. The rations include 150g of fortified corn-soy blend, 3g of iodised salt and 10g of palm oil per child per day.</p>
<p>There is also a second feeding category: girls in selected schools in Ghana’s three northern regions are <a href="https://www.wfp.org/stories/ghana-girls-reach-their-full-potential-take-home-rations">given</a> food to take home each time they attend school for 85% of the month. This food <a href="https://www.wfp.org/stories/ghana-girls-reach-their-full-potential-take-home-rations">includes</a> rice, maize, vegetable oil and iodised salt.</p>
<p>The ration programme for girls started in 1999 and has been gradually absorbed into the bigger school feeding programme. It has yielded remarkable results: girls’ enrolment in these selected schools has <a href="https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2016/03/04/world-food-programme-to-support-school-feeding-programme/">grown</a> from 9,000 to 42,000 between 1999 and 2016. Retention rates have doubled to 99%. This scheme is essential in tackling gender disparity in education, particularly in northern Ghana’s food-insecure and deprived communities where girls’ education is <a href="https://www.modernghana.com/news/399838/50-northern-region-girls-receive-wfpges-scholarships.html">not often prioritised</a> by families. </p>
<p>Sadly the ration programme for girls is being slowly <a href="http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/newsroom/wfp207421.pdf">phased out</a> – its managers believe their work is done given the huge spike in retention rates. Now the focus will be entirely on the bigger school feeding scheme, which has also been very successful. It has, according to my <a href="http://www.equityforchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Abuja-PaperCompendium.pdf">own research</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li>increased school enrolment by 20%;</li>
<li>reduced truancy and absenteeism;</li>
<li>lowered school drop-out rates; and</li>
<li>improved individual academic performance and the participating schools’ overall performance too.</li>
</ul>
<p>These are all excellent, positive results. But there’s still work to be done. </p>
<h2>Plotting the next steps</h2>
<p>One of the biggest problems facing the programme is a lack of funding. It cannot be rolled out more widely because there just isn’t enough money.</p>
<p>Schools that aren’t currently part of the programme are struggling. A survey conducted in Ghana’s Sekyere Kumawu district found that non-beneficiary schools were actually losing pupils. The same study <a href="http://jcss.our.dmu.ac.uk/files/2013/03/JCSS-Ghana-School-Feeding-Winter-2015.pdf">revealed</a> that pupils were switching to the schools that offer the scheme in order to receive the benefits. </p>
<p>The government and stakeholders need to put mechanisms in place that will strengthen the existing programme, allow it to expand into other schools and make it sustainable. The government must wean the programme of its reliance on donor funds. It can learn here from the experiences of South Africa’s national school feeding programme, which is funded by the country’s National Treasury. This approach ensures that the government takes ownership of the programme and plans for its sustainability.</p>
<p>Policy will be important: the programme falls under Ghana’s National Social Protection Strategy, but should be bolstered with a strong legal and policy framework that clearly maps the way forward. This legislation should delineate the guidelines for implementation and institutional mechanisms to make sure the programme delivers what is necessary.</p>
<p>Finally, a robust monitoring and evaluation framework will be needed to ensure that the programme’s organisers learn from their failures and successes. This way adjustments can be made along the way so that Ghana’s children can keep getting the meals they need at school.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60875/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Addaney does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ghana’s school feeding programme has reached millions of children in the past 11 years. It does important work, but needs more support to grow and become sustainable.Michael Addaney, Assistant Researcher at the Quality Assurance and Planning Unit, University of Energy and Natural ResourcesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/573792016-04-14T03:26:33Z2016-04-14T03:26:33ZFor poor children, two healthy meals a day can keep obesity away<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118562/original/image-20160413-22081-58dwv9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">School nutrition programmes help reduce the risk of children developing obesity.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tiger Brands Foundation</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Schoolchildren who receive a nutritious lunchtime meal are less likely to be overweight or suffer from childhood obesity. And those who receive both breakfast and lunch are three times less likely to suffer this fate. </p>
<p>Tackling childhood obesity is important because it may result in adult obesity and these children developing non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease later in life.</p>
<p>Obesity is not necessarily driven by overeating, as is commonly thought. Children can also develop obesity when they are eating poor quality and inexpensive food that may be high in fats and refined carbohydrates. </p>
<p>Globally, about 44 million children are overweight or obese. In South Africa, about 28% of children between the ages of two and 14 are <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/research-outputs/view/6493">overweight or obese</a>.</p>
<p>Our <a href="http://www.uj.ac.za/faculties/humanities/csda/Documents/TBF%20Nutrition%20Report%202015%20FINAL%20WEB%20VERSION.PDF">study</a> has shown that childhood obesity is relatively easy and cost effective to prevent. Two in-school nutrition programmes – one of which included both breakfast and lunch – had a marked effect on reducing overweight and obesity levels among schoolchildren.</p>
<h2>Effects of in-school nutrition programmes</h2>
<p>Our findings are from a comparative study at schools in the Lady Frere and Qumbu districts of the Eastern Cape province.</p>
<p>We wanted to independently assess the relative effects of an in-school breakfast programme and the Department of Basic Education’s <a href="http://www.education.gov.za/Programmes/NSNP/tabid/632/Default.aspx">National School Nutrition Programme</a>. The impact of these programmes has never been assessed before. </p>
<p>Children receiving the National School Nutrition Programme get a mid-morning lunch meal consisting of a protein, carbohydrate and vegetables. The breakfast is made up of a fortified cereal before the school day starts. </p>
<p>We compared the height and weight measurements of children at three types of schools:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>those who started receiving the lunchtime meal shortly after the study started; </p></li>
<li><p>those who had been receiving the lunchtime meal for some time; and </p></li>
<li><p>those who received both the lunchtime meal and an in-school breakfast.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118563/original/image-20160413-22078-1uwu77x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118563/original/image-20160413-22078-1uwu77x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118563/original/image-20160413-22078-1uwu77x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118563/original/image-20160413-22078-1uwu77x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118563/original/image-20160413-22078-1uwu77x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118563/original/image-20160413-22078-1uwu77x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118563/original/image-20160413-22078-1uwu77x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">As part of the study some students received breakfast and lunch at school.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tiger Brands Foundation</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Almost 35% of learners at schools that had not been receiving the lunchtime meal were either overweight or obese when they were measured against the <a href="http://www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/bmi_for_age/en/">Body Mass Index-for-age</a> recommendations made by the World Health Organisation. </p>
<p>In comparison, only 17% of learners at schools that had been receiving the lunchtime meal were classified as overweight or obese. </p>
<p>And of the children at the schools that received both the breakfast and the lunch, only 11.5% of learners were overweight or obese.</p>
<p>The effects of the school nutrition programmes can be seen more dramatically at the schools that started receiving the lunchtime meal in the course of the study.</p>
<p>When the children were first measured, the overweight and obesity levels were alarmingly high. By the end of the year – after the children had been receiving the lunchtime meal for at least three terms – the overweight and obesity levels had dropped by 8%.</p>
<h2>A good return on investment</h2>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/Report-03-19-00/Report-03-19-002012.pdf">Statistics South Africa</a> 30% of children live in households that have inadequate or severely inadequate access to food. These children therefore experience moderate or persistent hunger. </p>
<p>With the current drought and increased food prices, it is becoming more and more expensive and difficult for families, especially those in poor communities, to afford and opt for healthier food baskets.</p>
<p>As a result, poorer people are more likely to consume the foods that drive obesity. This in turn contributes to increased risk for non-communicable diseases. Children who grow up in these communities have no option but to consume food that lacks the right balance of nutritious meals. They are at high risk for obesity and “hidden hunger”. Hidden hunger is a micronutrient deficiency related to consuming low quality, nutritionally deficient meals.</p>
<p>Obesity – including childhood obesity – places a heavy cost burden on the health-care system of a country, given its association with heart disease and other non-communicable diseases.</p>
<p>But the lunchtime meal costs R2.73 per primary school learner per day. The breakfast has a similar cost. Although these are relatively low cost, the significant drop in obesity rates shows that they are high-impact interventions that could protect children from later obesity. </p>
<p>Taking into account the likely cost savings for the health-care system, interventions such as these represent an excellent return on investment. </p>
<p>With high levels of poverty that result in food insecurity and increasing food costs, in-school nutrition programmes are not only an important poverty alleviation mechanism that taps into the moral duty we have to ensure that children are fed; they have also been shown to deliver longer-term health benefits for the children, and for the country as a whole.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57379/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The study was funded by the Tiger Brands Foundation which provided the in-school breakfast at selected schools,</span></em></p>In-school nutrition programmes can reduce the chances of children suffering from childhood obesity.Lauren Graham, Senior Researcher at the Centre for Social Development for Africa, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/222732014-01-24T13:45:33Z2014-01-24T13:45:33ZJunk food black markets and BBM – how pupils avoid Jamie’s school dinners<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39857/original/xfz3d5bd-1390561957.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C133%2C898%2C541&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lunch.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reothehunter</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9DAYNKDixw">Jamie’s School Dinners</a> first aired in early 2005, it launched Britain’s secondary schools as a key battle ground for politicians, professionals and campaigners keen to improve young people’s diet and stem the tide of obesity. </p>
<p><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4320000/newsid_4326200/4326277.stm">Turkey twizzlers</a> were banned first. Then, in 2008, the government introduced strict new school food standards for all local authority-maintained schools in England. In these schools, chocolate, other confectionery and sweetened drinks could no longer be sold at all and the sale of less healthy products such as chips was greatly restricted. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have similar legislation.</p>
<p>But could this be doing more harm than good? Britain has long been considered entrepreneurial – or <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/money/2006/oct/23/careers.theguardian7">a nation of shopkeepers</a> as Napoleon put it – and it now appears that prohibiting the sale of such a wide range of products in schools could have produced a new generation of shopkeepers operating illicitly in our school playgrounds and corridors.</p>
<p>According to new research <a href="http://soc.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/09/09/0038038513500102">published in</a> Sociology, supposedly “common sense” restrictions on secondary school food may have created extensive black markets in junk food. The research identified extensive student-led “underground businesses” in prohibited food and drink in the six English secondary schools studied.</p>
<h2>Illicit doughnut supply</h2>
<p>Students and staff in these schools reported that the new restrictions on school food, as well as dissatisfaction with rushed and over-crowded canteens, had effectively created a perfect storm for black markets to flourish. The proliferation of supermarkets, including new high street stores very near secondary schools, has also helped fuel this illicit supply of high-calorie items, such as bags of doughnuts and cookies. </p>
<p>Supermarkets are effectively wholesalers, with students reselling their cheapest products within school to provide a service similar to that of a convenience store. New technologies, such as Blackberry Messenger (BBM), can also help them advertise what they have to sell in school that day and where they will be.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, secondary school managers, teachers and other staff appear to be turning a blind eye. They have few incentives to intervene to prevent or limit these black markets in food and drink. The focus is instead on school inspection reports, performance targets and “league tables”. Students’ diets and issues relating to obesity remain a very low priority for schools. In the six schools studied, students reported that their teachers ignored the illicit resale of food and energy drinks – even when it was occurring on a large scale. </p>
<p>There has been some media attention on how young people and others can profit in the wake of school food and drink bans. Last year, <a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/educating-yorkshire">Educating Yorkshire</a>, Channel 4’s brilliant fly-on-the-wall school documentary of Thornhill Community Academy, included some scenes of students smuggling in gym bags full of snack food and energy drinks to re-sell. </p>
<p>And earlier this year, The Daily Mail blew the whistle on a “<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2535818/Man-sets-fully-stocked-tuck-shop-car-flog-cut-price-sweets-schoolchildren-complete-signs-shelves-TILL.html">car boot tuck shop</a>” set up by a trader in Nottingham to take advantage of the demand for chocolate, sweets, crisps and fizzy drinks outside schools. Newspapers in the US have also reported how Michelle Obama’s <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/la-school-district-lunch-program-spawns-thriving-junk-food-black-market">school food reforms</a> have spawned extensive junk food black markets.</p>
<h2>We don’t need no education</h2>
<p>Of course, schools have long been a place of resistance and these underground distribution systems are in one sense simply another form of rebellion against the highly constraining nature of secondary schools. But from a public health perspective, these findings are alarming as they suggest young people still have easy access (perhaps easier access than ever) to junk food, very cheap calorific snack products and energy drinks at school. </p>
<p>While some legislation to control certain behaviour has been highly effective for public health (for example, the banning of smoking in public spaces), there are also no shortage of examples where outright prohibition fuels new underground economies and greater harms. Most famously, in 1920s America as alcohol prohibition was resisted through black marketeering.</p>
<p>The new <a href="http://www.schoolfoodplan.com/">English School Food Plan</a> – produced by Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent, the founders of the Leon restaurant chain – is full of great ideas and advocates simplifying the nutritional standards imposed on school canteens. But the same wide range of banned products would still stand under these plans. </p>
<p>To improve young people’s diet, we have to avoid simply driving problems underground. The most appropriate starting point for any school food policy is to give young people a greater voice and the opportunity to shape their environment more legitimately – rather than increasing restrictions until they set up their own convenience stores in school. </p>
<p>As with alcohol and tobacco, the government has to become <a href="http://www.sustainweb.org/publications/?id=188">more effective</a> in intervening with the food industry to complement any work being done in schools. What supermarkets do around schools can’t continue to be completely ignored. </p>
<p>Perhaps most intriguing of all is that, for all the talk of evidence-based policy and using trials to establish what works, scientific principles such as <a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f4016">equipoise</a> – which acknowledges uncertainty of effects – that are routinely applied in the field of medicine are still largely ignored in public health more generally. </p>
<p>In this case, not only does no-one know if the current laws banning products in state-maintained schools in the UK actually work to improve diet, but there is also the possibility that they could be doing much more harm than good.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22273/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Fletcher receives funding from the National Institute for Health Research, the Medical Research Council, and the UK Clinical Research Collaboration</span></em></p>When Jamie’s School Dinners first aired in early 2005, it launched Britain’s secondary schools as a key battle ground for politicians, professionals and campaigners keen to improve young people’s diet…Adam Fletcher, Senior Lecturer in Social Science and Health, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.