EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been amended to correct attribution of a quote from the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit. CollingwoodToday apologizes for the error.
In Simcoe County, one in five households are food insecure. Across Ontario, one in four children under the age of 18 are food insecure.
On June 12, the Simcoe County District School Board hosted the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit to provide a presentation on food insecurity in Simcoe County and how it’s impacting schools and students. Following the presentation, trustees decided they want to take more action to address the issue by sending letters to the province and County of Simcoe councillors, pleading for more help.
Less than half of Simcoe Muskoka students have reported to the health unit that they were eating breakfast before school and more than 2,200 students report they go to bed or school hungry.
“This is higher than Simcoe rates we saw five years ago,” Associate Medical Officer of Health Dr. Lisa Simon with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit told trustees.
“The magnitude of the issue is increasing and it’s way beyond anything we’ve ever experienced before,” said Jody Dawson, public health dietitian, also with the SMDHU.
Simon noted that school snack and meal programs alone do not resolve household food insecurity – only income solutions do.
“(It) can provide some relief to families, but the degree of financial hardship by the time families are experiencing food insecurity is more than can be meaningfully addressed by these programs alone,” said Simon.
The Eat Well To Excel program is a non-profit local partnership committee that supports volunteer-run breakfast, lunch, and/or snack programs for children and youth in all schools in Simcoe County. The program has been in existence for more than 20 years.
The community partnership committee that oversees the program includes the Simcoe County District School Board, as well as the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, United Way Simcoe Muskoka, Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board, the Sharing Place Food Centre, the Karma Project and Peterborough Child and Family Services.
Base funding for program is provided by the provincial Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.
In 2022/23, the ministry provided $447,000 to the program in Simcoe County, with other organizations and fundraisers bringing the total that year across all schools to $650,000. The board estimates the ministry and organizational funds cover 10 to 15 per cent of the program’s operating costs.
The funding provided by the province pales in comparison to the need in Simcoe County, so many schools do their own fundraisers or are the recipients of fundraising done in the community on their behalf.
This means the program can vary significantly between the 100 schools within the SCDSB’s purview depending on how much money that school’s community can raise.
Chair and Orillia/Severn/Ramara trustee Jodi Lloyd mentioned that Ontario is second to last provincially for funding these types of programs. While she acknowledged that the federal government announced a national school food program earlier this year, she said the amount of money being provided is minimal and is not enough to make up the difference.
“It’s so shocking to me that we live in Ontario and we have such a high number of people who are food insecure,” said Lloyd.
Adjala-Tosorontio/Clearview/Essa trustee Brandy Rafeek noted she had heard that in some cases, schools were monitoring who was accessing the programs, and were denying access to some students if they didn’t feel they truly needed it.
“What is our board’s protocol, and how is that put out there?” she asked.
Superintendent of education Greg Jacobs said communication is ongoing between the board and schools.
“It (should be) non-stigmatizing. So anyone should have access to food. If there is a situation where a staff member may be restricting ... then our school leaders would have a conversation,” he said. “Food access in our schools is a priority.”
At the end of discussion, Rafeek put forward two motions for the board to write a letter to each the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services and County of Simcoe’s committee of the whole to inform both of the situation in Simcoe County, requesting the province start a program that would match federal funds for student nutrition, and asking the county for more funds to support local school nutrition programs.
Trustees voted in favour of the motions on Wednesday night. The motions will need to be approved at the regular board meeting before going into effect.
