Thank you.
When we talk about a school food program, we also need to consider access to nutritious, culturally appropriate food. Canada's national school food program provides an important opportunity to support children and families and encourage healthy eating from a very young age. Fragmented systems are part of the challenge to bringing fresh fruits and vegetables into our classrooms.
Our experience across the produce supply chain, including supporting the federal surplus food rescue program, tells us that a successful national program needs to consider more than simply purchasing food. We need to think about how food gets to schools; how it is stored; if the school has the necessary infrastructure to support the program; how frequently food needs to be delivered; how waste is minimized; and how schools can access seasonally appropriate and culturally appropriate products while maintaining variety year-round. There's also the consideration of who manages the program within the school, as this cannot be an add-on to a teacher's already crowded day.
Fresh produce presents a specific logistical challenge because it's highly perishable. Procurement systems therefore need sufficient flexibility to account for seasonality, availability, transportation distances and regional differences across the country. To support year-round healthy eating and availability of culturally appropriate food, this will have to include not only food we grow in Canada, but also products such as bananas, oranges and other easy-to-eat commodities that we cannot grow.
We would encourage the federal government to work closely with provinces, territories, school authorities and the food industry to make the program as efficient as possible with a connected national framework, and to ensure that healthy food reaches children without creating unnecessary administrative costs or food waste.
There is also the educational opportunity. Providing children with fruits and vegetables is important, but helping them understand food, food skills and where their food comes from can have benefits that extend well beyond the school day. That matters, because fruits and vegetables help reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and some chronic diseases, yet we know that almost 80% of Canadians are not eating their sufficient servings a day. Low consumption costs Canada a lot of money: close to $8 billion a year in health care costs. Building healthy habits early is an investment in children's health.