It’s nice to talk about our children in the future tense and even essential to go up to the barricades to ensure their future. But we should not forget to also think about it in the present. There are tens of thousands of Quebec schoolchildren who are hungry, here, now. And what do we do in the face of this emergency? We plan disconnected food aid schedules and juggle programs steeped in goodwill, but limited and poorly aligned. A shame !
THE JMontreal newspaper we learned this week that students from disadvantaged backgrounds at the Montreal School Service Center (CSSDM) will have to wait until October 2 to be entitled to a $1 lunch. Tie-down problem? Unintentional delay? Not really. As proof, the valuable food support program will end on June 7, well before the end of classes.
In the meantime, the CSSDM ensures that no child will be left behind thanks to the other food support programs offered here and there in its schools in need. That’s for theory, because inflation has significantly eaten into the room for maneuver of these same schools.
Already last year, many of them had resigned themselves to cutting fat, then muscle, by spacing out the distribution of milk and snacks (still not started in many schools, in fact!) and making nutritional compromises. Bye bye fresh fruits and whole grains, hello compotes and industrial biscuits high in calories… empty!
Should we settle for so little without protesting? Even in normal times, it is well documented that rates of food insecurity are significantly and consistently higher among children than the rest of the population. When the cost of living skyrockets, bringing with it food insecurity, it is inevitably they who are found in greater numbers on the front line.
In 2021, Statistics Canada estimated that more than a fifth of Quebec children were experiencing some form of food insecurity, and nearly 12% were experiencing a moderate or severe form. This was before the price of the grocery basket went through the roof. When we know the damage that an empty, malnourished stomach or full of empty calories causes on growth, health and learning, we can only call for immediate and lasting solutions.
All the organizations called upon to fill empty bellies hammer home the same observation: hunger is hitting more people, harder and well beyond the usual pockets of poverty. We must measure the impacts that these additional pressures have on the deprivation indices of schools. Already criticized in the past, these indices have rarely seemed as offbeat and imperfect as today to people on the ground. The most structuring solution is also perhaps the simplest: assess the relevance of establishing a national school feeding program.
Too rich for that, Canada? This is to misunderstand the aims and virtues of such a program adopted by all the G7 countries and a majority of OECD countries… except Canada. In addition to fighting hunger, a national school feeding program helps to influence the general health of young people by advocating healthy lifestyle habits and instilling essential nutritional basics. It can also give a significant boost to farmers if we combine it with the requirement to offer local products. Not bad is not it ?
In 2019, the Trudeau government pulled out a program exactly like this one. There were even consultations afterwards. With the high cost of living, one wonders what is stopping Ottawa from pulling this rabbit out of its hat. The desire not to exceed one’s areas of competence, perhaps?
It would indeed be up to Quebec to tackle it, of course. But the idea faces resistance from the Minister of Education. Earlier this month, Bernard Drainville defended the strength of CAQ aid in these matters, which increased from some $9 million to more than $50 million. This is significant, but Quebec can do better. Especially since the step is not that high.
In an in-depth study, the Institute for Socioeconomic Research and Information estimated that a program aimed at offering one free meal per day to 982,000 public school students in Quebec would cost $1.7 billion per year. All things considered, this is roughly equivalent to the tax cut granted to taxpayers in the 2023 Girard budget or half of the payments planned for the Generations Fund this year.
It’s a think about it. The fruit is ripe for an urgent reassessment of our food security needs, programs and goals. Rather than tearing ourselves apart over hypothetical mixed toilets, let’s refocus our energies around this challenge. Nourishing the future, in the first sense of the term, does not refer to tomorrow.