New Brunswick Launches Province-Wide School Lunch Program
New Brunswick is set to roll out a province-wide school lunch program this fall, which will bring significant changes to existing organizations that currently provide lunch services to students. The new initiative aims to ensure all students have access to nutritious meals, with options tailored to different financial situations.
Under the new program, parents will have the choice to pay full price for lunches, which is estimated to be around $7 or $8. Alternatively, they can opt for an affordable price of $4 or $5, depending on the grade level. For families who cannot afford either of these options, there will be fully subsidized meals available. This approach ensures that no student goes hungry due to financial constraints.
Marco Bonadie, the interim executive director for Fredericton Community Kitchens, which offers a school food program throughout the city, acknowledged that his organization will face some changes as a result of the new program. However, he expressed support for the initiative, recognizing it as a positive step toward addressing food insecurity among students.
"Would I be really happy if a program like ours was not required? One hundred per cent," Bonadie said. "When we're able to look and say that the work that we do to feed students is no longer needed because… the provincial government is stepping up and taking care of at least that need, that is something to be celebrated."
Despite the new universal program, Bonadie emphasized that there will still be a need for offerings like his, even if they are not within the traditional school setting or during school hours.
Fredericton Community Kitchens currently runs a student hunger program for about 26 schools in the Fredericton region. The organization receives requests for up to 500 lunches for students daily, which are packed and delivered. The program offers regular meals and halal meals. The lunches are free, and no demographic or identifying information is required to receive one.
Bonadie mentioned that the organization will continue operating the program as usual for the first week of school and until orders stop coming in to address anyone who might be having technology issues or experience other barriers to ordering through the province's program. He also noted that the student hunger program will continue offering its community drop-in program where students can pick up a bagel, snack, drink, or other item through the summer and into the fall. There is potential for expansion of this program.
Fredericton Community Kitchens will also be part of the government's program, providing meals to three small schools on the outskirts of Fredericton. Additionally, the organization will continue its backpack program, which delivers the equivalent of five meals to schools. These meals are then distributed to kids to take home and share with their families. "Again, no questions, no barriers," Bonadie said.
Changes in Saint John
Service will also be changing for the Inner City Youth Ministry in Saint John. Bonnie Hunt, the executive director of the ministry, shared that the ministry's Lunch Connection program, which has been running in different formats since 1989, will be coming to an end after next week.
"I'm happy that the province is taking over the programming in that it will allow more lunches to more students across the province, but I'm sad that it's the end of an era for our program," Hunt said. The lunch connection provides lunches to over 400 students in 11 schools. Schools are provided the meals at a cost, and three of the schools receive significant subsidies from the ministry.
After the last week of lunches, Hunt mentioned that the ministry will continue its summer program with picnic lunches on Tuesdays and Fridays. Then in September, the plan is to transition to offering new services and programs.
One of those programs is called Meal Connection, which is the ministry's approach to a take-home meal-kit. People can order a meal-kit, which includes the food items you need to make the dish and instructions on how to prepare it. Hunt explained that the meal kits will be offered at different prices to meet all financial needs.
Hunt also hopes to restart the ministry's reading program, which was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering reading help and activities with small groups of students. She mentioned that the ministry also offers a family connection event once a month, which encourages families to eat a meal and do activities together. Right now, that program is only offered in Uptown Saint John, but she hopes to expand it to other parts of the city.
"Since COVID hit, we served almost 270,000 lunches over the last six years… so we didn't have time to do all of these other programs that we've had sitting on the back burner," Hunt said. "So we're kind of excited about all the new things that we get to try."
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