Canada National School Food Program All Set to Offer Healthy Meals to More Kids

Canada National School Food Program will offer healthy meals to more kids, thereby lowering the rates of food insecurity among children under the age of 18 in Canada.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to implement the National School Food Program across the country.

With an investment of 1 billion Canadian dollars ($730 million) over five years, the programme will provide meals to up to 400,000 more kids every year, beyond those served by existing school food programmes, according to a news statement from the Prime Minister's website.

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Did You Know?
More than 2.1 million children (below 18 years) living in Canada have experienced some level of food insecurity in the past 12 months. Hence, the Canada National School Food Program will provide meals to more kids. #NationalSchoolFoodProgram #schoolmeals #HealthyMeals

On average, the programme is expected to save participating families with two kids up to 800 Canadian dollars ($584) a year in grocery bills, the statement said as quoted by Xinhua news agency report ().

Is Food Insecurity a Problem in Canada?

The programme includes investments that will support school food programming for First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities as well as Self-Governing and Modern Treaty partners, many of whom have some of the highest rates of food insecurity in Canada, the statement added.

According to Statistics Canada estimates, in 2022, 22.3 percent of families and more than 2.1 million children under the age of 18 in Canada reported experiencing some level of food insecurity over the past 12 months.

Children In Canada Have Improved Quality Of Diet During School Hours Over the 11-year Period
Canadian children have seen an improvement in the quality of foods consumed during school hours according to surveys taken 11 years apart, which show a 13 percent improvement.

Reference:

Canada National School Food Program – Key Objectives & Its Impacts! - (https://rgkarmch.org/canada-national-school-food-program/)

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