Quebec residents and the organization La Cantine pour tous are calling on political parties to make school meals a priority in their campaign platforms ahead of the election this coming October.
According to a recent survey conducted by the firm SOM, 88 per cent of the 1,060 respondents believe it is important for the government to ensure that all children have access to a healthy lunch in elementary school, and 72 per cent believe this should be a priority for political parties.
Other highlights of this survey: 85 per cent of Quebecers, whether they have children or not, support a program allowing parents to pay according to their means—which is, in fact, the model of La Cantine pour tous; 60 per cent favor a flexible contribution model based on family income, compared to 21 per cent who prefer universal free meals and 14 per cent who favor a standard-price model.
“The results reveal that school meals are an issue that resonates well beyond families with children in elementary school. “The level of support for the school lunch program is high across all segments of the population,” says Vincent Bouchard, vice president of marketing at SOM.
These unequivocal results, unveiled last week in Montreal on the sidelines of the pan-Canadian summit on school meals, delight Thibaud Liné, executive director of La Cantine pour tous, but do not surprise him.
`We had already sensed that there was strong public support for the idea of a school meal program in Quebec. What this survey tells us is that Quebecers are overwhelmingly in favour of government intervention to facilitate access to meals through school meal programs. They agree with the principle that children should be fed in schools, that there should be no more food insecurity in schools, and that healthy eating should be promoted in schools. This is something that enjoys broad consensus and is even popular,” he said.
“Rarely do we see such strong support for a social measure. The results show that the Quebec public is ready to support concrete solutions to improve access to school meals. Decision-makers now have a clear signal to take action,” adds Benoist De Peyrelongue, Chair of the Board of Directors of La Cantine pour tous.
The needs are dire. Approximately 28 per cent of children in Quebec lived in food-insecure households in 2023, according to the latest report from the Institute of Statistics. And this trend is on the rise: the proportion of food-insecure households rose from 14 per cent in 2018 to 19 per cent in 2023.
In light of this, Liné called on all parties to commit to increasing funding for school meals, with the goal of providing lunch and breakfast in all schools considered disadvantaged according to the Socio-Economic Environment Index—approximately 890 schools—within the next five years.
He dreams of the day when the government will make `an even stronger commitment to a universal program, knowing that there is obviously food insecurity and junk food in all schools across Quebec, whether they are disadvantaged or not’.
The parties have been receptive to his request.
“No one is against virtue. They are all sensitive to the issue. Now, we’re waiting for the election platforms to see if any commitments will be made.” Liné asserts that it is a matter of “political courage.”
As with La Cantine pour tous, he advocates a model where the cost is shared between parents and the provincial and federal governments.
According to his calculations, to reach the most disadvantaged schools, approximately $30.3 million more would be needed over the next five years compared to what the organization currently receives—about $11 million. Parents would pay the rest of the bill.
Liné believes that “it is a reasonable investment” despite this “significant” increase. “In the context of provincial and federal budgets, it’s not much when you consider what having access to school lunches can do for children’s lives.”
Students at the 269 schools currently served by the program can attest to this.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
