Grant: Catalyst Grant: Partnering for Impact - Impacts of School Food Programs

Schools are a key setting for promoting health equity given they are a place where all children-regardless of racial, cultural, or socio-economic background-spend a significant portion of their waking hours. In addition to improving the health, wellbeing, and learning of students, school food programs have been shown to reduce health inequities, alleviate parental mental load/stress and financial burden, and contribute to broader social and cultural goals. The newly announced National School Food Program and National School Food Policy provide a unique Canadian opportunity to develop a long-term comprehensive research plan to track and evaluate a wide range of school food impacts on children, families, and communities. The purpose of this project is to co-create a plan for school food research priorities with key school food practitioner and policy organizations to develop a comprehensive, community-driven research plan that replaces siloed examinations with a systems-based, user-informed approach. This research plan will support the monitoring and evaluation of short and long-term outcomes to demonstrate the success of the National School Food Program in its initial years and importantly, over time. The priorities set through this project will become the base for a series of research collaborations, funding proposals, and studies that will support comprehensive research on, and equitable implementation of the National School Food Program investment for the wellbeing of children.