Transcript CANADA NEEDS A PAN-CANADIAN STUDENT NUTRITION …

CANADA NEEDS A PAN-CANADIAN
STUDENT NUTRITION PROGRAM
Kirsty Duncan
CANADA’S PROMISES
In 1989, the House of Commons unanimously passed a
motion to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000
 one in seven Canadian children still struggles to have his
or her basic needs met
 one in four First Nations and Inuit children grows up in
poverty
 over 300,000 children rely on food banks
CANADA’S PROMISES
In 1992, Canada signed the World Declaration on
Nutrition: access to nutritionally adequate and safe food
is a right of each individual
 ensuring every child is able to develop his or her
potential should be everyone’s concern
 each of us has a responsibility to stop the betrayal of
Canada’s children, and make the 1992 promise a reality
 our children do not want excuses—that this is a
provincial problem or someone else’s responsibility; our
children need food to feed their bodies and minds
STUDENT HUNGER
40% of elementary students and 62% of secondary
school students do not eat a nutritious breakfast
“When children go to school hungry or poorly nourished,
their energy levels, memory, problem-solving skills,
creativity, concentration and behaviour are all negatively
impacted. … As a result of being hungry at school, these
children may not reach their full developmental potential
— an outcome that can have a health impact throughout
their entire lives (Former Chief Public Health Officer Dr.
David Butler-Jones)”
STUDENT HUNGER
“I share my apple with my friend every day because
my friend doesn’t get to eat an apple. I get tired
when I do not eat an apple. My friend doesn’t get
breakfast, so he gets really hungry and really tired.
So I share my apple, and now my friend doesn’t get
tired any more. And guess what, he gets stars on his
work now!”
SCHOOL MEALS WORLDWIDE
Worldwide, 368 million children –roughly one out of every five —
receive a meal at school every day in 169 developed and
developing countries
In Sweden, children aged six to 16 receive a hot meal each day
In Japan, children aged six to 15 receive school meals, with 50
percent of the meals made with local ingredients
In Brazil, a massive national nutrition program feeds 47 million
students at 190,000 schools each day, improving student health and
well-being, and feeding the agricultural economy, local food
system and regional economic development
CALL TO ACTION
That the federal government work with the provincial
and territorial ministers responsible for agriculture,
education and health to develop a comprehensive panCanadian school nutrition program
BENEFITS OF SCHOOL
NUTRITION PROGRAMS
Nutritious diets and mitigates against childhood obesity
Better grades and health, increased motivation, improved
likelihood of graduation, and decreased absenteeism and
violence
Less food insecurity, and reduced risk for chronic
diseases and mental health disorders
BENEFITS OF SCHOOL
NUTRITION PROGRAMS
Research shows that students that eat breakfast every day
have an increased graduation rate of 17%
The Boston Consulting Group reports that, on average, each
high-school graduate contributes an extra $75,000 to the
economy; they earn higher salaries than “drop-outs”, pay
increased taxes, have lower healthcare costs, and are less
dependent on social assistance
If providing food at school increases graduation rates by only
3%, a pan-Canadian school meals program in high schools at
a cost of $1.25 a day could result in an annual net payback of
more than $500 million
BENEFITS OF SCHOOL
NUTRITION PROGRAMS
Potential economic stimulus for Canadian agriculture is
also considerable
Realistically, 70% of a pan-Canadian nutrition program
could have domestic content with an annual return to
Canadian producers of $1.5 billion
-as a general rule, for each dollar spent in a
community, an additional two to three dollars
would be generated through processing,
storage,
trucking, etc.
“Hi man, hi lady. Thank you for the first apple I ever
eaten. I like apples, I want to eat more. I want the apples
to come to my school again. My teacher said you bringed
the apples. Can you bring apples again? Thank you man,
thank you lady. Are you really the apple fairy?”
It is time to end child hunger in Canada.
As Buzz Aldrin said: “if we can conquer
space, we can conquer child hunger”.