Brendan Maguire, the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, received a letter from my office on the afternoon of August 28th. I wrote this letter in response to a concerned constituent, who reached out frustrated that her child was not able to safely participate in our province’s School Lunch Program.
You can find the letter in plain text below:
Dear Minister Maguire,
I write to you today to draw attention to the still developing school food program in our province.
I recently received communication on behalf of an eight-year-old student at a school in my constituency. They have Celiac disease, a condition that affects about one per cent of the general population. In this school of 300, that means at least three children need meals that take their medical needs into account.
For students like them, food prepared without careful consideration of gluten-free needs can be dangerous. When options aren’t available, they must go without, leaving them excluded from their peers. Their invisible condition is made visible because of how school food is sourced and prepared.
As you know, schools work hard to be inclusive spaces, making accommodations for health, cultural, and accessibility needs. Our school food program must reflect that same commitment to inclusivity. That means ensuring children with conditions like Celiac disease have safe, reliable, daily access to meals.
Prior to my election to serve the people of Sackville-Cobequid, I spent decades in the classroom as a teacher and as a provincial and national advocate for a free, healthy school lunch program. I know firsthand that empty bellies are at the root of many classroom struggles, and students learn best when they have access to food that provides them with the vitamins, minerals and nutrients to fuel their growing minds and bodies. [We] have been pushing for a universal school food program for years, and what your government implemented is a good start – but gaps remain, and the absence of Celiac-conscious options is one of them.
In order to align our program with the National School Food Policy, a clause required under the Canada – Nova Scotia School Food Agreement, we must provide food options that are culturally inclusive and mindful of dietary needs.
I urge you to act quickly to address this by working with Celiac-conscious providers in each Education Entity, ensuring schools have accessible, local supply. If those providers don’t yet exist in every region – at a time [the province] is promoting Nova Scotia Loyal – then this is a clear opportunity to partner with the Department of Growth and Opportunities to support new local businesses that could meet this need.
On behalf of students and families, I also ask that you provide an outline of the plans in place for the coming school year that will address this and other inclusionary needs for the school food program. I look forward to your prompt reply on this matter and am happy to set up a meeting where we can discuss this further.
Yours truly,
Paul Wozney
