Food and Nutrition in Schools

Good nutrition plays a key role in helping students grow, learn, and feel their best. When students eat well, they have more energy, can think more clearly, and are better able to manage stress. Schools can support healthy eating by creating a positive environment where students feel encouraged to make nutritious choices and build a healthy relationship with food.

Whole School Approaches

A healthy school includes strategies that support students’ nutritional health and well-being. Consider the following activities as part of your health and well-being action plan:

School Food & Beverage Policy
To support student health, schools must ensure that all food and beverages offered on school premises comply with Ontario’s School Food and Beverage Policy (PPM 150) and any local school board policies. School staff should also be familiar with the food safety requirements in schools.

Create a Positive School Food and Nutrition Environment 
Schools can help influence a positive eating environment by providing welcoming eating spaces, opportunities to learn about and try new foods, using positive language when talking about food and choosing what food is offered at school. For ideas to help you get started, refer to:

• Nurturing Healthy Eaters in Schools
• BrightBites

Student Nutrition Programs (SNPs) 
Some students arrive at school hungry, which can affect their ability to focus, learn and participate fully. School food programs and community support can help by offering access to nutritious food during the school day. This can include breakfast, morning meals and/or snacks. SNPs are operated by local community partnerships: 

• Simcoe County: Eat Well to Excel 
• District of Muskoka: Student Nutrition Program Muskoka

Resources to support your SNP:

• Student Nutrition Program Nutrition Guidelines.
• Student Nutrition Program Supplemental Guidance  
• Safe Food Handling Training for Student Nutrition Programs.

Garden, Grow, and Learn
Gardening helps students try new foods and build a connection to how food is grown.

• Involve students in hands-on gardening and growing activities.
• Try planting seeds in the classroom, starting a grow tower, or visiting a local farm or greenhouse.
• Find helpful resources to support school gardening on the Green Thumb: Gardening at School from BrightBites.ca

Food Preparation and Cooking 
Involve students in food preparation and cooking to build food skills, confidence, and a sense of accomplishment.  For more ideas, explore Food Literacy in Schools.

Fundraising  
Work with school council to ensure fundraising activities support healthy habits and are consistent with positive health messages provided in classroom learning. Ideas for fundraising include:

• Walk-a-thons or dance-a-thons
• Selling plants, magazines, or fresh produce
• Fresh from the Farm fundraising - Selling oranges or Grapefruits

Health promotion fundraising ideas:

For additional fundraising ideas that support your school, visit Student Nutrition Program page to find a program in your area.

Rewards and Celebrations  
Schools are encouraged to reflect on their accomplishments and celebrate their successes. Avoid using food as a reward, as this can interfere with students’ natural hunger cues. Instead, consider non-food rewards such as extra outdoor or activity time, classroom privileges or fun experiences. 

For ideas, explore:

• Celebrate without food using the classroom celebrations resource. 
• It’s an Honour - Rethinking Rewards and Incentives.

Teaching and Learning

Using credible resources and activities that align with the Ontario curriculum can help students develop age-appropriate knowledge, learn new skills and make informed decisions to support their health. Below are examples of resources for teaching and learning about food and nutrition: 

• Canada’s Food Guide Toolkit for Educators: Activities for ages 4 to 6, ages 7 and 8 and ages 9 to 11.
• Ophea: H&PE Curriculum Resources for Grades 1-8 and Grades 9-12: includes lesson plans, student templates and assessment tools.
• BrightBites: Kindergarten to Grade 8.
• Growing Chefs: Kindergarten to Grade 8.
• Food is Science: Grade 3 and Grade 5 to 9. Resources to help educators teach food literacy in Ontario’s Science and Technology Curriculum.
• Fight Bac! Partnership for Food Safety Education: Kindergarten to Grade 8. Food safety classroom materials, including curriculum, resources and activities.

Energy Drinks

Resources to inform educator knowledge and teaching about caffeinated energy drinks:

• Health Canada: Recommended Maximum Caffeine Intake 
• Health Canada: Caffeinated Energy Drinks 
• Canadian Paediatric Society: Energy and Sports Drinks
  

Educators play a key role in creating a positive classroom environment where students can learn about food. Consider incorporating foods promoted in Canada’s Food Guide into classroom lessons (e.g., using apples in math), understanding children’s and adults’ roles around food and eating and evaluating your biases by reflecting on your own thoughts and attitudes about food and body image.

Student Engagement

Students can play a big role in making their school a healthier place! Here are some fun and meaningful ways to get involved in food and nutrition initiatives:

• Start or help with a school garden or greenhouse. Grow fruits, vegetables, and herbs for learning and sharing.
• Join school-wide events like The Great Big Crunch to promote healthy eating.
• Support youth-led projects about food justice, like learning about food marketing or raising awareness of household food insecurity.  
• Encourage drinking water. Help promote hydration stations located around the school and remind others to bring reusable water bottles. 
• Give feedback on your schools Student Nutrition Program. Suggest food options that follow nutrition guidelines, respect different cultures, and match what students enjoy eating.
• Help make eating areas welcoming by making lunch and snack spaces friendly and comfortable for everyone.

When students take part, they help build a positive food culture at school.

Parent and Family Engagement

Here are some ways that families can get involved in supporting your school with food and nutrition:

• Encourage families to pack litterless lunches to support eco-school efforts and healthy food choices.
• Encourage families to participate in school council discussions about fundraising or hot lunch programs to help ensure food choices work for families and reflect community needs.

Resources to share with parents and families include:

• Tips to Help your Child have a Positive Relationship with Food and their Body
• School Lunch Your Kids Will Munch
• Healthy eating at school - Canada's Food Guide
• Half your Plate - Free Resources 
• Tips for feeding school-aged children

Energy Drinks

Learn more about caffeinated energy drinks and what parents and caregivers need to know:

• What Parents and Caregivers Need to Know About Supplemented Foods – Health Canada 
• Caffeinated Energy Drinks – Health Canada

Additional Resources

Household Food Insecurity & Food Access
Not all families have enough money for food; this is called household food insecurity. While school and community food programs improve food access, they do not solve the root cause of household food insecurity. Long-term solutions are needed to address income-related problems. 

Learn more about household food insecurity and what you can do to take action.

Visit 211ontario.ca for local food access programs to support students and families in need.

Dietitian Services in the Community

Contact Health811 or visit the website to speak with a registered dietitian at no cost and no need for referral.

Sustain Ontario

Sustain Ontario Edible Education Network - resources and information to make it easier for people across Ontario to get children and youth eating, growing, cooking, celebrating, and learning about healthy, local and sustainably produced food.

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