Schools have the autonomy to purchase their own food
A second province has signed onto the federal government’s national school food program.
On Oct. 18, Manitoba joined Newfoundland and Labrador as the only provinces so far, and the first Prairie province, to join the national program.
The $17.2 million agreement between Manitoba and the federal government will see schools receive $3.8 million this year and another $6.7 million in each of the next two years.
Where the food comes from will be up to the schools.
“While the province encourages schools to buy fresh, locally sourced food, ultimately, we only provide the funding, and each school has the autonomy to purchase their own product,” Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn told Farms.com in an emailed statement.
The funding can also be used to update school kitchen equipment.
Farms.com has contacted Keystone Agricultural Producers for comment on if it sees a role for itself in supporting local food procurement.
The federal government views the national program as an opportunity to connect people with the local ag industry.
“This initiative will provide kids with healthy meals, so they can learn, grow and reach their full potential, while also creating new opportunities for local farmers, food processors and harvesters,” a quote from Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lawrence MacAulay says on the government’s National School Food Policy webpage.
Up until Ottawa announced the program, which will receive $1 billion over five years, Canada was the only G7 nation without this kind of support.
This program is an opportunity to really highlight Canadian ag, Tyler McCann from the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute told Farms.com in an earlier interview.
“Countries around the world do a better job of using government procurement to support local agriculture where we struggle with that here,” he said. “This is clearly an opportunity, but I don’t get the sense there’s a lot of effort to seize on that opportunity.”
On its food policy webpage, Canada highlights Brazil’s school food program.
In that country, “school food programs are universally available and free,” the webpage says. They are required to procure at least 30 percent of their food from local farmers and must follow menus prepared by nutritionists that reflect local crops and food habits.”
Other examples of school food programs that source products from local farmers are in Latvia and Ghana.
Latvian farmers provide, fruits, vegetables and other items used in school programs. And the source farms are within 300km of each school. And in Ghana, about 80 per cent of the food in the program comes from local growers.