June 13, 2024
Riffaat Mamdani,
Manager, Child Development and Specialized Services Branch, Children with Special Needs Division, Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
Ziyaad Vahed,
Director, Child Development and Specialized Services,
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
RE: Feedback regarding SNP Review and Consultations
Thank you for including Ontario Dietitians in Public Health in the consultation process and recent feedback sessions.
ODPH is the official voice of Registered Dietitians working in Ontario’s public health system. As members of the College of Dietitians of Ontario, ODPH’s Registered Dietitians are credible food and nutrition experts, and are also uniquely educated to promote healthy eating at the population-level. ODPH is also a member of the national and provincial Coalition for Healthy School Food and supports their guiding principles. Our members work with SNPs in all regions of the province to ensure the foods served in local programs align with the SNP Nutrition Guidelines (2020).
Inadequate provincial funding and an over-reliance on fundraising and corporate charity is the primary limiting factor for SNPs to meet current and future needs across the province. We encourage MCCSS to work with other partner ministries and agencies to ensure:
- the annual provincial investment in the Ontario Student Nutrition Program (OSNP) and the First Nations SNP increases from $32.2 million to $64.4 million so that all existing programs have sufficient funds to operate at full/ideal capacity (i.e., operate 5 days per week during the school year offering culturally appropriate meals and/or snacks for all students),
- funding for paid program coordinator positions in schools, and
- additional capital funding for the specific infrastructure that is necessary to support student nutrition programs (e.g., adequate kitchen and storage space and equipment including a designated handwashing sink, additional sink(s) for food preparation, refrigerator(s), freezer(s) and dishwasher; bright, non-stigmatizing eating area(s); and external building features such as transportation access for food deliveries).
We are particularly concerned with the participation of Loblaw – President’s Choice Children’s Charity (PCCC) in the recent consultation. As you know, they offer the Power Full KidsTM program which provides financial grants to schools for school feeding programs. ODPH and other SNP partners including Student Nutrition Ontario (SNO), school boards, local SNP agencies and even school administrators have been unsuccessful in obtaining details from PCCC about their granting process, program resources, and other details. Their website states that they are “independent of other charities and governments”, yet they are at the MCCSS tables potentially influencing thefuture direction of our programs.
Our concerns include:
- the granting system is not transparent or universally available. This year, only schools that received an access code were able to apply, the criteria for obtaining a code was not shared although may have included schools on a waiting list from last year and total amounts available provincially and regionally are also not shared.
- schools that accept their funds in PC gift cards receive more money than schools that accept funds into their school accounts (the latter allows SNPs to use their local purchasing system rather than having to shop at a Loblaw franchise)
- their nutrition standards do not align with MCCSS SNP Nutrition Guidelines (e.g., their meal is defined as containing at least 1 serving of fruit or vegetables, plus 1 serving of whole grain or protein per day, based on Canada’s Food Guide – MCCSS guidelines state a meal contains 1 fruit or vegetable, 1 whole grain and 1 protein food)
- if schools receive funding, the amount is not always shared with their local program lead agency and schools cannot rely on funding year to year. This lack of transparency often results in unequitable distribution of other provincial/regional/local funding and impedes program sustainability at the school and local/regional level.
- the Charity uses hunger as a proxy for food insecurity to solicit donations and, by not providing funding in a universal and transparent way, perpetuates the myth that food charity is a solution for food insecurity.
We request that MCCSS consider limiting PCCC access to planning tables along with other commercial entities that stand to benefit from SNPs (e.g., food commodity boards and foundations, other grocers, etc.) and that these commercial entities be required to disclose their relevant financial statements.
We also request that MCCSS consider ensuring that any organizations (commercial or charitable) that provide food or funding for food be required to provide products that meet the SNP Nutrition Guidelines 2020 (or as current) and work with SNO and the regional Food and Logistics Coordinators to coordinate access and distribution that is available to all local programs.
Finally, we request that you consider sharing the consultation report or at least a summary of the report including the key findings with the non-commercial stakeholders so that we can better collaborate to achieve the best program possible.
Thank-you for considering these issues, and for your support and continued collaboration so that students have access to nourishing food in a welcoming and safe environment, free from stigma and marketing to children.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Smith, RD
Luisa Magalhaes, RD
ODPH School Nutrition Workgroup
Cc.
Viviane Dégagné, Manager, Student Nutrition Ontario
Tyler Arsenault, co-chair Student Nutrition Ontario
Alexandria Pasiak, co-chair Student Nutrition Ontario
apasiak@algomafamilyservices.org
Sarah Keyes, Ontario Coalition for Healthy School Food,
Carolyn Webb, Ontario Coalition for Healthy School Food,
