If you are a parent, please contact your child's school Principal in order to learn about the various supports and resources available to you and your child, such as no-fee meals and snacks during the school day. Parent and student confidentiality will be strictly maintained. 

The funding is to make sure that students are fed and ready to learn by expanding existing school food programs  

The 60 public school districts in B.C. The funding is expected to reach the 20% of the students who are facing food insecurity across the province. 

Yes, schools have received more funding than in previous years from Feeding Futures

Please visit www.gov.bc.ca/bcschoolfood which contains information on how to start and/or expand a school food program. Please connect with your school principal to work together on creating a plan. 

Yes, community inclusion is essential for a long-term model of feeding students; non-profit organizations, corporate donors, and parent advisory councils will continue to play a vital role alongside schools to deliver school food programs. 

The following documents help guide nutrition within schools and can be used within the home as well to create healthy and balanced meals.

• School Meal and School Nutrition Program Handbook (PDF 7.3 MB)
• Healthy Eating Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools | HealthLink BC
• Healthy Schools BC - Healthy Schools BC is a partnership of organizations working together on healthy school initiatives. The website has a collection of healthy schools information and resources to help support the health and learning of students. The website is available in English and French
• Healthy Eating at School- Healthy Eating at School supports school communities in B.C. to take action on school nutrition policy and practices. It uses a comprehensive school health model to address issues such as healthy fundraising, the school environment, nutrition education, food at school, community partners and school nutrition policy.
• School Physical Activity and Physical Literacy Project - The School Physical Activity and Physical Literacy project promotes health in B.C. elementary schools. Find information about community resources, helping students choose activities they enjoy, building confidence and more. 

If you are a parent wanting to offer support to your child's school food program, please reach out to the school principal to find out about volunteer opportunities. 

Communicate directly with the principal to create a food plan for your school who will work with the District Food Program Advisor, Kelly McCafferty

The school district appreciates all of the hard work that community members and PACs put into helping develop and run the food programs in schools. If you want to get involved, please reach out to the principal at your school for more information. Below is a document that outlines general roles and responsibilities of the various parties involved in food programming in schools. 

Below are some documents that are sent to schools to encourage cultural diversity and reconciliation through food programming in schools. These are resources that are available to the public and can be used by families, community organizations, etc.

Cooking In Two Worlds 

Food Is Medicine Recipe Book 

Healthy Eating on a Budget Cookbook For Diabetes & Diabetes Prevention

Grant information is available above and will be updated periodically. Principals, PACs, and those involved in food programming for the schools are able to work with the principal to apply. 

The BC Fruit and Vegetable Nutrition Program is a program that delivers healthy fruit and vegetable snacks to over 492,000 children in schools across B.C. This includes the +Milk program to some schools of elementary age. The program aims to increase students acceptance of, exposure to, and willingness to try fruits and vegetables as well as their knowledge and awareness of locally grown foods. The program works with local growers and distributors to bring fresh BC products to school. Every school in SD8 is enrolled in this program and will receive 24 weeks of deliveries which has been topped up 25% from previous years. 

School principals and staff can put together hampers to send home to families in need with perishable and non-perishable items (if storage permits within the school to store these items). Please reach out to your school principal if you need assistance providing food within your home. 

Backpack Buddies is a program designed to fill backpacks with food items that can be sent home with students on Fridays with food to last them the weekend. If you are interested in obtaining a backpack for a student, please contact your school principal to enrol. 

Information about the program can be found here: Backpack Buddies | Feed Children Across BC

A universal/convenience program is one that provides food to all students within the school, even if parents/guardians are able to provide a lunch, snack, and breakfast, whereas Feeding Futures/Food Equity programs target only the students and families who need support with providing these meals. Feeding Futures/Food Equity programs are designed to provide more than just lunch to students in need and includes take-home hampers, breakfast, snack, etc., in order to provide the most nutritious and cost-effective food. 

The funding is expected to reach the 20% of the students who are facing food insecurity across the province/district. Building the capacity in each school community to work towards stigma and barrier free access to nutrition food for any student who needs it will take time. 

Donations of any sorts are greatly appreciated by schools, especially fresh produce. If you would like to donate produce to a school, reach out to kelly.mccafferty@sd8.bc.ca to get a list of schools in your area that would like to receive these donations. Donors can also reach out to school principals directly if there is a specific school you are looking to donate to.