Photo credit: The Conversation
The Toronto School Food Program is expanding to all public schools in the city this fall, reaching 30,000 additional students
Toronto Today reports that Mayor Olivia Chow announced Wednesday that 78 new schools have been added to the program, bringing it to about 325,000 public school students.
The program sources food directly from local pantry suppliers to feed students at school, with the ultimate goal of establishing a universal lunch program by 2030.
Choe said the program will save families nearly $900 in groceries a year.
The announcement was made at Sweets from the Earth Bakery in North York, with the city also highlighting its investment in bulk food purchasing from local suppliers.
More than 400 schools will receive additional food this school year through Bridging the Nutrition Gap, an initiative by the Toronto Foundation for Student Success. The city said 150 of those schools are receiving the additional food as a direct result of municipal funding.
The city provides $3 million from its overall $32-million school food budget to the initiative, which purchases food in bulk from local suppliers and Ontario farmers.
Sweets from the Earth, which has worked with the foundation for more than a decade, supplies products including muffins, breakfast flats and scones for the school food program. The Toronto-based bakery employs 225 workers.
The city said the bulk-purchasing initiative has created more than 250 jobs in food and program delivery, processing and equipment manufacturing.
Toronto has increased annual school food funding by more than 80 per cent since Chow took office, according to the city. It has also committed $16 million in one-time funding for new programs and kitchen infrastructure.
