We’re excited to share a few updates as we get close to the release of Budget 2023!

Published on March 14, Globe journalist Caroline Alphonso explains the urgency of federal support for a national school food program. This article highlights the growing momentum for a federal program, including the first public commitment from the NDP towards school food in the upcoming budget. Read the article in the Globe & Mail, or see the PDF on our website here.

On March 9, 2023, hundreds of individuals and classrooms joined the virtual Great Big Crunch, where 5000+ participants crunched into a fruit or vegetable to show support for a healthy school food program. Among the participants was the Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development of Canada! If you missed the event, watch the recording.

Over 140,000 people across the country are pledged to take the crunch throughout the month of March. If you haven’t already done so, snap a selfie of you crunching and share it with the hashtag #GreatBigCrunch – see what others have shared on Twitter,  Facebook, and Instagram!

On March 28, the Department of Finance will release Budget 2023, and Coalition members are eagerly awaiting whether it will include the hoped-for $1 billion over five years commitment for school food. Until then, we are already seeing encouraging signs of provinces showing leadership, including the BC government recently committing $214 million towards school lunch programs.

Josh Smee from Food First NL and Lindsay Corbin of the Nova Scotia Chapter of the Coalition for Healthy School Food under Nourish Nova Scotia share their perspective from Atlantic Canada: community organizations and schools are ready to create something bigger, now it is up to governments to provide funds and infrastructure.