{"id":38449,"date":"2022-03-11T01:47:42","date_gmt":"2022-03-11T09:47:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=38449"},"modified":"2022-03-10T18:36:45","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T02:36:45","slug":"new-school-lunch-pilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2022\/03\/11\/new-school-lunch-pilot\/","title":{"rendered":"New school lunch pilot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Food insecurity by province or territory, using data from Statistics Canada\u2019s Canadian Community Health Survey, 2017-18. (image from proof.utoronto.ca\/food-insecurity<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

Jewish Family Services Vancouver (JFS), Richmond Jewish Day School (RJDS) and Kehila Society of Richmond are piloting a new food program to enhance students\u2019 access to healthy and nutritious food in a way that promotes privacy, availability and inclusiveness.<\/p>\n

When RJDS needed support with their school lunch program after a contract with a former caterer ended, Kehila Society saw an opportunity to work with JFS and create a food program that benefits all families throughout the week, regardless of income.<\/p>\n

With start-up funds provided by Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, once a week, JFS delivers hot meals to RJDS at no cost to the students or their families. These meals are healthy, plant-based, and available to all students. In addition, a community fridge and pantry program is in operation throughout the week. The start-up funds provided to the Kehila Society enabled the purchase of a fridge and pantry cupboard, which JFS, the Kehila Society and Richmond Food Bank keep stocked. Students and their families can access healthy snacks, dry goods, fresh produce and meals during school hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe students at Richmond Jewish Day School have absolutely loved the weekly hot lunches sponsored through JFS and the Kehila Society,\u201d said Sabrina Bhojani, principal of RJDS. \u201cOur parents have also expressed their delight with this program, knowing that their children are receiving a warm, healthy and nutritious meal at school. The research is clear \u2013 good nutrition helps our children to focus, concentrate and self-regulate, which, in turn, results in improved learning and student performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proper nutrition plays a central part in learning, yet one in eight households in Canada struggle to access nutritious food, according to PROOF, a research program investigating household food insecurity \u2013 defined as \u201cthe inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints\u201d \u2013 across the country (proof.utoronto.ca). That amounts to \u201c4.4 million people, including more than 1.2 million children living in food-insecure households.\u201d<\/p>\n

Healthy, universal school meal programs play an important role in giving children and families access to nutritious and safe food in a non-stigmatizing manner when they need the support.<\/p>\n

\u201cSchool meal programs can play a crucial role in ensuring that all children \u2026 can eat healthy and nutritious foods\u00a0\u2013 which, in turn, supports their ability to learn,\u201d said Lynne Fader, co-director of the Kehila Society. \u201cSchool meal programs are uniquely placed to address under-nutrition, by promoting healthy diets.\u00a0Serving a free school meal increases children\u2019s intake of healthy foods, especially among children with lower socioeconomic status.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll students deserve access to healthy, safe, nutritious and easily accessible food,\u201d said Ilana Labow, director of food security, JFS Vancouver. \u201cWe are inspired by this vision and are committed to helping uplift students\u2019 lives through delicious, good food. We look forward to nourishing this program together and watching it thrive and grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Courtesy JFS Vancouver<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Food insecurity by province or territory, using data from Statistics Canada\u2019s Canadian Community Health Survey, 2017-18. (image from proof.utoronto.ca\/food-insecurity) Jewish Family Services Vancouver (JFS), Richmond Jewish Day School (RJDS) and Kehila Society of Richmond are piloting a new food program to enhance students\u2019 access to healthy and nutritious food in a way that promotes privacy, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38451,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3076,9750,2864,21326,3231,3232,1049,1353,20754],"class_list":["post-38449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-education","tag-food-security","tag-health","tag-ilana-labow","tag-kehila-society","tag-lynne-fader","tag-richmond-jewish-day-school","tag-rjds","tag-sabrina-bhojani"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}