Next Steps for School Meals

Next Steps for School Meals is a province-wide consultation about a school lunch program in Newfoundland and Labrador. Food First NL set out to explore options and provide recommendations about how to expand school meals to all Pre-K to Grade 12 students. We wanted to learn what an ideal school food program would look like in our province.

Project Goals

During the project, we wanted to:

  • See which Pre-K to Grade 12 schools already offer in-school meals and learn how they operate.

  • Hear from people involved about what schools and meal providers need to offer school meals to all students. This could include infrastructure (e.g. kitchen equipment), training, staffing, and more.

  • Recommend options to effectively and equitably expand school meal programs to reach all Pre-K to Grade 12 students in N.L.

  • Identify opportunities for school food investment to add value to local economies and communities.

A young boy wearing a school uniform and backpack carefully selecting fresh salad greens from a salad buffet.

Our Process

  • January 2024: Developed a comprehensive plan to hear from as many perspectives as possible.

  • Starting February 2024: Conducted three rounds of surveys with schools, in partnership with the N.L. Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. The surveys focused on school food environments, meal offerings, and needs. 89 – 95% of all schools responded to each survey!

  • March 2024: Launched the Next Steps for School Meals Advisory Committee with 35 provincial school food stakeholders. The Committee met monthly to provide dedicated project support. We leveraged the Committee's networks to expand reach for surveys, focus groups, and site visits.

  • May 2024: Hosted the Next Steps for School Meals Summit with over 75 provincial and national stakeholders. You can watch the session recordings and keynote address below.

  • May–June 2024: Conducted five regional workshops online to hear from rural and remote communities in N.L. and update our local partners.

  • Summer–Fall 2024: Hosted 12 focus groups with people across N.L., including five youth focus groups. We partnered with youth-serving organizations for these five focus groups. We gave the organizations interview guides, staff support, and honoraria to facilitate the sessions and share the data with us.

  • January 2025: Launched a Labrador-focused school food survey in collaboration with Indigenous partners. The survey included questions for parents/caregivers and their school-aged children/youth. Each school in Labrador received online and physical copies of the survey to ensure we included voices from Northern communities.

  • February 2025: Launched Parent/Caregiver Perspectives Surveys through the Thought Exchange Platform, in partnership with the N.L. Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. We sent the survey to all schools within NLSchools and le Conseil scolaire francophone provincial de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador. The survey included questions for parents/caregivers to answer with their school-aged children/youth. We received just under 7,000 responses, providing incredibly rich data.

  • Beginning March 2025: Hosted the School Food Allergy Working Group. Its scope has since expanded from Atlantic Canada to the national level. It includes Food First NL, Food Allergy Canada, school food non-profits, government representatives, and leading experts in pediatric allergies in school settings.

  • March 2025: Formed the Indigenous School Food Subcommittee. This group includes Indigenous school food partners from across N.L. and meets monthly to discuss and collaborate on priority issues.

  • Upcoming: We are working on a report that includes our recommendations and summarizes everything we heard. Stay tuned!

Next Steps for School Meals Summit Recordings

 

Provincial experts panel

Grassroots and community leaders panel

 

National experts panel

Keynote address from chef and activist, Joshna Maharaj

 

Contact

Sign up for our monthly newsletter to receive updates about Next Steps for School Meals and Food First NL!

Specific questions about the project? Reach out to Program Coordinator, Ashley Byrne, at ashley@foodfirstnl.ca, or call and leave a message at (709) 237-4026