Food Program  $10,000

The teaching chef at John Barsby Community School is attempting to create a program to address the food security and structural inequity issues seen in the new scheduling plan for high schools due to the pandemic.

In our new normal, our community meal providers, in-house breakfast and lunch programs, hamper program and traditional cafeteria service are now completely absent or severely reduced. Having two very long periods per day with “nutrition breaks” and a mid-day break that, at best, has students in classrooms eating a lunch from home, presents some serious problems for those who have not brought food. If they are in near 3 hour blocks with “nutrition breaks” and have no nutrition, they will be watching everyone else eat, and everyone will see and notice them without.

If the breakfast and lunch programs are not running, then those kids who come to school without breakfast or lunch are going to go all day without food. We have a 30% poverty rate and a 30% Indigenous population. This experience could happen every day for many. These students will then be expected to get excited about learning, focus, do physical activity, absorb information, get motivated, be curious and pay attention to instructions, guidelines, rules, etc. while hungry.

PROPOSAL:
– Provide a free, nutritious meal during our morning and afternoon periods’ nutritional breaks.
– The meals provided are created by students, for students, and are for anyone who for any reason happens to need something nutritious.
– Delivery of meals to classrooms, during in-class nutritional breaks, through a student-organized, school-wide, no contact delivery network.