Learning and Connecting at School Food for All: Nourishing Futures
In June, CHEP Good Food Executive Director Andrea Cessna attended School Food for All: Nourishing Futures in Montreal, a national gathering that brought together more than 530 participants for 68 sessions over three days focused on the future of school food in Canada.
The gathering began with a field trip through Quebec’s Montérégie and Estrie regions, where participants visited three community food initiatives connected to La Cantine pour tous’ network of social economy caterers. The visits offered a chance to see different approaches to preparing and delivering school food while connecting that work to local communities and food systems.
Throughout the forum, discussions explored school food from many perspectives, including food literacy, local food systems, research, sustainability, and the implementation of Canada’s National School Food Program.
Saskatoon was well represented. Jordan Sokmenoglu of Saskatoon Public Schools presented on Embedding Food Literacy in School Food Programming, sharing work already underway as well as plans for expanded food literacy, land based learning, farm and facility tours, and greater integration between food production and learning.
University of Saskatchewan researcher Dr. Rachel Engler Stringer also presented A Vision for Community Engaged School Food Research Over the Next 30 Years, looking toward a future where school food is fully integrated into the school day and supported by research developed in partnership with communities.
One presentation that particularly resonated with CHEP came from Daniel Balaban of the World Food Programme Centre of Excellence against Hunger in Brazil. Drawing on international experience, Balaban emphasized that sustainable school food systems are built over time by strengthening existing initiatives, aligning stakeholders, improving collaboration across sectors, and creating the predictability needed for long term planning.
His closing message emphasized that it is possible to move from many individual initiatives toward a more coherent collective effort, with different organizations and sectors each having a role to play.
These ideas are particularly relevant as CHEP considers how its decades of experience in school food, food literacy, community programming, and food access can contribute to the next chapter of school food in Saskatoon and Saskatchewan.
Thank you to the Coalition for Healthy School Food for providing a bursary that made CHEP’s participation in School Food for All: Nourishing Futures possible.