In 1988, an interchurch group investigated the use of food banks in the City of St. John's, Newfoundland. This committee prepared a report entitled Proverty: The Only Thing Money Can't Buy. An unexpected finding came from this report: within the multitude of families who use food banks in St. John's, many children were being kept home from school when parents did not have any food to give them for lunch. In short, these parents did not want their children to have to endure the embarassment of being so poor that they could not even have lunch.

In response, the School Lunch Association was established on November 6, 1989 with its first initiative being a lunch service for the students at Bishop Feild Elementary, an inner city school. To this day, the hot lunch program, offered by the School Lunch Association, ensures children receive a hot, nutritious meal, regardless of their families ability to pay - without judgement by their peers or injury to their self-esteem.

A 1982 study entitled Malnutrition and Behaviour, by researcher Merrill Read, indicated, "the hungry child is apathetic, disinterested and irritable when confronted with difficult tasks." More recently, a study on nutrition and cognitive development from Tufts University's Centre on Hunger indicated that even before under nutrition is severe, its results are readily detectable; inadequate food intake limits the ability of children to learn about the world around them.

Anecdotal evidence from teachers in the schools we serve indicates that in-class behavior, attention span, as well as attendance have improved dramatically in some cases, when our hot lunch program was brought into the school. Children who would otherwise go hungry throughout the school day are now being fed.

Since 1989, the School Lunch Association has provided we over one million meals.

How We Work

A monthly calendar menu and newsletter, together in a brown envelope are sent to the schools who in turn distribute them to students. Children and parents are encouraged to select meals together and the envelopes are sent back to the school for collection by the School Lunch Association. Envelopes are brown in color to ensure the presence or absence of money is not known by anyone other than a select few Association staff, who guarantee confidentiality.

A fee of $3.00 per meal is considered full payment. A partial payment or no payment - depending on families' circumstances that month - is acceptable. The amount of payment is the decision of the parents who are encouraged to understand that the success of the program is dependent upon their contributions.

Statistics are carefully recorded for each month of the school year, showing the program usage, and payments.

Evidence of our success in providing good nutrition to children is qualitative, and comes directly from what the teachers, principals, and parents are telling us.

This distinctive program has become a model for other communities within the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as across Canada. The School Lunch Association is one of the most efficient school lunch programs in Atlantic Canad and has many unique feature, most notably the non-stigmatization it ensures.

The families who avail of our program understand and appreciate the non-stigmatizing feature of our lunch program. They also comment on the spirit of community that the program encourages when the children come together as equals to share a meal.

Children play an integral role in the success of the program. As volunteers learning from program staff, they gain a sense of responsibility, learn safe food handling, sanitation, and the components of a nutritious meal. All in all, their self-esteem and self-reliance is nurtured at an early age to foster life-long healthy habbits.

On average, the School Lunch Association provides lunch to approximately 1,500 children per day in 11 Northeast Avalon schools each month of the school year.

Over 60% of the families who participate in our program are unable to afford our modest fees and many children would not get a nutritious meal without the program. In many schools, these statistics are even higher. During the 2003-2004 school year the cost to prepare and serve a meal was $2.70. With the average payment being only $1.22, the School Lunch Association covers a cost of $1.48 per child through its fundraising and sponsorship initiatives. Unfortunately these are alarming statistics.

With the addition of three new schools to the program in 2001-2002, the number of children who have access to our program increased by 590 for a total of over 2,700 children. St. Andrew's Elementary was among the first schools to be served in-classroom due to space issues. St. Bernard's Primary in Witless Bay was the first school and satellite kitchen outside of St. John's. Cape St. Francis Elementary was the second school outside City limits and is served from our central kitchen. Almost 235,000 meals were prepared in the 2003-2004 school year.