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 Budget 2024 earmarked $1 billion over five years for a new National School Food Program with a goal to provide meals to 400,000 more children every year by expanding existing school food programs. The new national initiative aims to address the impact of food insecurity on children and learning, issues identified in a 2022 consultation process led by Economic and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to examine a Pan-Canadian School Food Policy with participation from provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous partners and stakeholders. In a summary report of the findings released in October 2023 the ESDC concluded: “Too many children at school are trying to learn on empty stomachs, and too many Canadian families are not able to reliably access healthy food.”  Canada Beef has been part of an industry working group examining the development of a national school food policy in Canada. Canada Beef supported the working group by developing a backgrounder to explore beef’s place in the diet of school aged children in Canada. The backgrounder provided the latest nutrition science and research to support the inclusion of beef in a program aimed at school-age children, including teens, who need adequate intakes of nutrients for proper physical and cognitive development. In a briefing note, Canada Beef reiterated that nutrient adequacy is critical in childhood, yet iron, zinc, and vitamin B12 remain nutrients of concern for children in Canada. Unfortunately, in Canada, children are consuming too many highly processed foods. Beef contains nutrients that children need, like heme iron and zinc, vitamin B12 and complete protein, which are nutrients not as easily obtained from plant-based diets. “In developing a national school food policy for Canada, it is important to recognize that these nutrients are more challenging for children to obtain in sufficient amounts from diets that are mostly plant-based. As a nutrient-dense source of protein, iron, zinc, and vitamin B12, beef belongs in school food programs,” the brief stated. The federal government said it will work with provincial, territorial, and Indigenous governments to deliver the new national program, potentially as soon as the 2024-2025 school year. Canada Beef will continue to provide information to the working group and monitor the development of the school food policy and implementation of the national program supported by the federal government. Canada Beef’s health and nutrition team provides credible research and current science that demonstrate the benefits of including nutrient rich beef in the human diet, with a special focus on demographics at-risk for nutrient inadequacy such as infants, children, pregnant women, and seniors. Back to main page |
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