Lack of funding halts expansion of breakfast program to northern N.B.

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The community development department of the Chaleur Regional Service Commission says a lack of funding has halted in its efforts to expand the province’s breakfast program to schools in the north.

Jennifer Pitre, director of community development and transportation, said Food Depot Alimentaire in Moncton has the provincial contract for the Student Nutrition Program, which provides breakfast foods to New Brunswick schools.

“We were told if we wanted a breakfast program for all the schools in our region that we would have to develop a hub up north and that Food Depot Alimentaire would bring food to our hub and we would be responsible to distribute food to the schools,” Pitre explained to the board during its April public meeting.

Pitre said her team has found an appropriate building, but Food Depot Alimentaire doesn’t have the funding to provide food for more schools.

“We have all of the infrastructure ready to go… but when the provincial budget came down there was no additional funding added for breakfast programs,” she said.

Food Depot Alimentaire serves 110 schools in the francophone and anglophone east, west and south districts. Pitre said there are 133 schools with funded breakfast programs in the province.

Janeville Elementary School and Académie Assomption, which are both in the Chaleur region and have fewer than 100 students combined, are also part of the program, as are two schools in the Restigouche region.

“It’s never been made clear how schools that are being served are selected,” she said.

There are more than 300 schools in the province.

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development did not respond to a request asking how schools are selected and if there are plans to expand the program in the north.

“It’s not about laying blame,” Pitre said. “It’s just about making sure that all of the kids in our schools across the province are fed so they can learn and grow.”

According to the Human Development Council 2023 Child & Family Poverty Report Card, 29.4 per cent of New Brunswick school children live in food insecure households. According to that same report, the Bathurst child poverty rate is 25.6 per cent.

A separate survey of all grade levels in the region suggest about 50 per cent of students don’t eat breakfast each morning, Pitre said. Those results don’t specify if the students choose not to eat or if it’s because of food insecurity.

Food Depot Alimentaire executive director Stephane Sirois said in an email the non-profit supports the Department of Education and Breakfast Club of Canada through food purchasing and distribution. He said the Department of Education decides which schools receive the food.

Brunswick News repeatedly reached out to the province for comment and clarification on the program, but did not hear back.

The federal government recently announced $1 billion over five years for a national school food program, but Pitre said the details of the program are still unknown.

Sirois said his organization is also waiting on news about how the federal program will work.

“We’re ready to continue playing our role and expand to additional schools if needed,” he said.

The members of the commission’s board said they want to set up a meeting with the region’s MLAs and MP to discuss the expansion of the program.

“If we can’t get that (program), we really need to get our MLAs to really push that,” said board member and Bathurst Counc. Michael Willett.