Whether it’s a recession, a pandemic or climate change, children are often among the most affected and vulnerable. However, are we doing everything in our power to adequately protect them from possible disturbances?
Posted at 9:00 a.m.
As if the last two years of the pandemic hadn’t been difficult enough, marked by isolation measures and remote schooling, skyrocketing inflation is now hitting a new high, hitting families across the country hard. country.
Fortunately, children rarely care about economic issues like rising food costs. At least, not until they materialize before their eyes.
Currently, many children find themselves for the first time in their lives in front of an empty pantry, not knowing if they will have more than one meal a day. And that’s not to mention the many children who have inadequate nutrition.
In Canada, one in three children is at risk of going to school hungry for various reasons.
Yet children are the future of our society.
We must give our young people, all bright and energetic, what they need to thrive in the world of tomorrow. We also have a collective responsibility to protect them, to support them in their development and to ensure that they can reach their full potential.
There are many tools to help them reveal this full potential, but experts agree that a child who starts their day with an empty stomach is not a child who is well prepared to learn.
Having experienced a school feeding program up close, we can testify to how much they have shaped the beings we have become. Entrepreneur, psychiatrist, Olympic athlete, young professionals; we have become women and men who are open to the world, inclusive and eager to give back to the community.
Unfortunately, not all children are lucky enough to attend a school offering such a program. In fact, according to the latest figures from the Breakfast Club of Canada, more than 600 schools in Canada are currently on the waiting list for such a program.
The question therefore needs to be asked: have we reached a stage where a universal school feeding program is a must?
As proposed by several organizations, including the Breakfast Club of Canada, equitable access for all to healthy and nutritious food would undeniably support the development of new generations.
Across the country, many school nutrition workers are working to advance access to nutritious food so that all students have the energy to learn. The benefits of such programs are unequivocal. They help improve school learning skills, physical and mental health, and foster healthy eating habits, attendance and engagement in young people.
And because children spend the vast majority of their time and energy in school, school environments provide a unique environment to ensure they have access to nutritious food and to support healthy growth and optimal development.
As former beneficiaries of a school feeding program like the Club, we have seen all of these caring volunteers, whether community members or corporate partners, join forces with schools to give time, love and money to promote the educational success of children through access to healthy food.
While we can see all the effort that goes into feeding children every day, much more needs to be done to ensure that all children reach their full potential.
It is often said that it takes a village to raise a child, but it also takes a whole team to feed it. But this team can’t do it alone. Corporate partners, governments and individual donors will need to continue to invest in the future of our youngest.
More importantly, we must, as a society, change our outlook and stop taking for granted what is unfortunately not for all children.
And so, are we really doing everything in our power to adequately protect the generation of tomorrow?
*Elizabeth Hosking, Ahmer Imran, Katherine Bailey, Liam Rondeau, former beneficiaries of school feeding programs