As parents across the province make back-to-school preparations for their children, a prominent Ontario grocery chain has launched a new initiative that will support in-school meal programs and nurture food literacy initiatives among students across the province.
Farm Boy has announced the launch of nourish to flourish, which in its inaugural year will provide $55,000 in grants to 30 selected Ontario schools. The funds are designed to support the selected schools with not only much needed funding for in-school meal programs, but also to offer educational experiences focused on food literacy such as immersive trips to farms, school gardens, and guest speaker events.
nourish to flourish was developed in close collaboration with Sustain Ontario and Farm to Cafeteria Canada, organizations who individually and collaboratively strive to transform school food environments across Ontario and to promote healthy food and sustainable farming.
After the inaugural year on the program, funds for the nourish to flourish initiative will be raised through a combination of customer donations and corporate matching. Farm Boy has launched a point-of-sale fundraising campaign in-store until August 15 inviting customers to donate at checkout. The company will then match donations up to $25,000 to fund the grants.
Grants will be awarded in three tiers to maximize the potential reach and impact of the initiative. There will be 15 grants at $3,000, five grants at $1,000 and 10 grants at $500 in total available.
Food insecurity, which happens when people can’t get enough nutritious food because of financial limitations, can have a significant impact on learning. A study conducted in 2017 on students from the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) highlighted that the effects of food insecurity go beyond just hunger. It can harm a student’s psychological, cognitive, behavioral, and social development.
Based on the Canadian Health Survey of Children and Youth, 15.3 per cent of Ontarian children one to 17 years old lived in food-insecure households in 2019.
It is through this troublesome perspective that the importance of corporate led initiatives such as nourish to flourish is understood. “We believe in the power of nutritious and wholesome food to fuel healthy communities,” says Shawn Linton, president and general manager at Farm Boy. “nourish to flourish — our flagship charitable program is designed to make a positive impact across Ontario, encouraging schools to strengthen their in-school meal programs and inspire students to develop healthy eating habits.”
Both Sustain Ontario and Farm to Cafeteria Canada will play pivotal roles in the overall success of this initiative. Among their combined responsibilities are facilitating the application process, helping to promote the program, supporting the school selection process, providing guidance to school communities through access to tools, resources, learning and knowledge sharing activities, as well as working with schools to share their stories of impact.
“We are very pleased to be a partner on this Ontario-specific grant stream,” shared Phil Mount, chair of the board of directors of Sustain Ontario. “The nourish to flourish initiative will provide schools with additional funding, knowledge and inspiration to advance in-school meal programs that bring in fresh, local and culturally relevant food, as well as to initiate concrete food literacy activities including involving students in growing, harvesting and preparing their food, and better learning where their food comes from.”
Schools hoping to receive funding from nourish to flourish will be able to apply for consideration beginning September 9th. Specific details regarding the application process are not yet available but will be posted closer to the opening date.
Additional information regarding the nourish to flourishprogram can be found at farmboy.ca/nourishtoflourish.
