The hot lunch program started by Courtenay Elementary and the Courtenay Elementary Community School Society in March has served nearly 9,000 lunches to date. We are humbled by the success of this program.
As great as those numbers sound, Courtenay Elementary is just but one school of the many in the district doing their own program the best they can.
School food programs are recognized around the world as essential to the health, well-being and education of students with over 388 million children in at least 161 countries receiving free or subsidized school meals at school.
New data from Statistics Canada (2022) indicates 1 in 4 children in Canada lives in a food-insecure household, but Canada is the only G7 country without a national school food program.
Furthermore, Budget 2022 reaffirmed the December 2021 mandate letter commitments for the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food by directing them to work with provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous partners, and stakeholders to develop a National School Food Policy and to explore how more Canadian children can receive nutritious food at school, and public consultations took place through November – December 2022.
It’s time to let our Member of Parliament for the riding of Alberni-Courtenay, Gord Johns, know that you, as a caregiver and voter, think that the federal government needs to act.
How do you do that? You can petition your MP. If we can collect a minimum of 25 good signatures with complete addresses, and deliver the petition, our MP must rise in the House of Commons and share the petition.
Let’s make Gord Johns rise to the occasion in the House and send the message that Ottawa needs to budget for a national school food program.
Share the petition
The format of this petition has been checked by Gord Johns’ constituency assistant, so it should be valid to submit.
Use this petition to tell your MP that we want a national school food program. If you use this form, be sure to change all three instances of the school name and your federal electoral riding!