Funding for school nutrition programs welcomed

March 20, 2008 02:43 PM

News this week: The Ontario government will be spending more in school nutrition programs couldn't have come at a better time, Lori Nikkel says.

The chairperson of the Ontario Student Nutrition Network said breakfast, lunch and snack programs in Toronto schools have spread so rapidly there was no money for more.

For a year, the network, which helps residents and schools set up programs has had a moratorium on new ones, though dozens of schools are on a waiting list.

"It's been terrifying," said Nikkel, an employee of FoodShare who counts 500 programs at 450 schools in the city and says their budgets have been strained.

At a Scarborough public school on Monday, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty committed to spend $32 million for such programs across the province over three years.

City officials say Toronto's share will be about $1.2 million a year. The city pays around $2.7 million to give 85,000 students food they need to concentrate.

Much of the new money will go for infrastructure, Nikkel said.

"There's a lot of programs that want to run but don't have a fridge or a sink and we have to have those to meet public health guidelines."

The Etobicoke resident said starting the community programs help draw parents into the schools and give them confidence.

The programs can change the way children eat by introducing them to healthier foods, she added.

"There's absolutely no junk food involved."

At Cliffside Public School in Scarborough, McGuinty was handing out oranges to students gathered for the announcement, while Child and Youth Minister Deb Matthews was giving them mozarella cheese and Housing Minister Jim Watson multigrain crackers.

Metroland Media Group Ltd., the Toronto Community News