Project Title
Supporting the 2022 BC School Food Network Gathering in Victoria, BC
BC Chapter of the Coalition for Healthy School Food
Organization Information
Organization Name
BC Chapter of the Coalition for Healthy School Food
Mission and Vision of Organization
The goal of the BC Chapter is to advocate for and inform investment from provincial and federal governments in a cost-shared, healthy Universal School Food Program for all K-12 students in BC and across Canada. Building on existing programs across the country, our vision is for all schools to serve a healthy meal or snack at little or no cost to families. These programs should include food education and serve culturally appropriate, local, sustainable food to the fullest extent possible, in accordance with the Coalition’s guiding principles. The BC Chapter provides a united voice for those on the ground to advocate and work collectively towards the development, expansion and enrichment of school food programs that meet the diverse needs of BC’s school communities.
Guiding Principles + Values
A successful Canada-wide School Food Program will be:
1) Health promoting
2) Universal
3) Cost-shared
4) Flexible and Locally Adapted
5) Committed to Indigenous Control over Programs for Indigenous Students
6) A Driver of Community Economic Development (e.g. via local food procurement)
7) Promoting of Food Literacy
8) Supported by Guidance and Accountability Measures
You can read more about our guiding principles here.
Contact Information
- Primary Contact Person(s): Samantha Gambling, she/her
- Email: bcschoolfood@phabc.org
- Phone: 604-652-3793
- Address: N/A
- Website: https://www.healthyschoolfood.ca/
Preferred Method of Contact
- Best method(s) to contact: Email, Phone
- Best day(s) to contact: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays
- Best time(s) to contact: Mornings, Afternoons
Preferred Platform(s) for Remote Collaboration
- In person, Email, Zoom
Project Description
Note: This project will take place online and in person
Context: What challenge or issue does the project aim to address?
Healthy school food programs are known to improve students’ diets, mental and physical health, school performance, attendance, and social cohesion. Canadian research shows that school food programs improve health and education outcomes in children from all socio-economic backgrounds. Yet, Canada is the only G7 country without a National School Food Program. UNICEF has ranked Canada 37 of 41 wealthy countries when it comes to children’s food security and nutrition.
In BC, the current patchwork of school food programs reaches only a small percentage of our 500,000 students and does not meet the need of hungry or undernourished students. Over the last few years, Covid-19 has reinforced our understanding that school food programs are an essential service and public good; just like education and healthcare, students need access to nutritious food to be healthy and ready to learn.
Read more about why school food matters here: https://www.healthyschoolfood.ca/why-it-matters
The BC Chapter of the Coalition for Healthy School Food (BC-CHSF) is a provincial chapter of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, a growing network of 200+ non-profit member organizations from every province and territory advocating for public investment in healthy school food programs to address this collective need for healthy food at school. The BC-CHSF was initiated in 2018. Thanks to a growing number of school food stakeholders advocating for healthy school food, there is currently growing momentum for a publicly-funded school food program from federal and provincial governments. To keep advancing this movement, the BC-CHSF conducts advocacy, research partnerships, outreach, and member engagement.
As part of our outreach and member engagement activities, every year the BC-CHSF hosts a network gathering for school food stakeholders across the province. This year will be our first in-person network gathering since November 2019. This LFS350 project will involve supporting the 2022 BC School Food Network Gathering in Victoria, BC. This event will bring together school food practitioners, advocates, and researchers from across the province to connect and share resources and stories, hear updates on the momentum for school food in BC and Canada, and engage in collective advocacy. The event will take place on the evening of November 9, and will include presentations and interactive booths, a locally sourced dinner, roundtable conversations, and more.
The goals of this event are
- Information-sharing
- Networking & relationship building
- Consultation
- Fundraising for BC Chapter
- Advocacy
Main Project Activities and Deliverables
- Support with event planning (e.g. developing promotional materials)
- At the event, facilitating and/or notetaking during roundtable/World Cafe conversations
- At the event, supporting with photography or videography
- Post event, conducting an analysis of roundtable conversations and developing 1-pagers
- Post event, supporting with photo/video editing
Note: As travel to Victoria is required for this project, students will need to complete a travel and accommodation budget. Please discuss your TA for more information.
Student Assets and Skills (preferred or required)
- Student interest and experience with event planning would be considered an asset
- Other assets include interest or experience with note-taking, facilitation, data analysis, graphic design/marketing, photography/videography, or organizing.
Are there any mandatory attendance dates (e.g. special event)?
- Yes, the students will need to attend the Network Gathering event on November 9, 2022
- The Gathering will be embedded within the 2022 PHABC conference taking place November 9-10 at the Victoria Conference Center, which students will be invited to attend for their interest.
- Please speak to your TA about transportation and travel arrangements
Is a criminal record search (CRS) required?
- No
How much self-direction is expected from the students?
- Deciding on the project deliverable(s): Led by community partner
- Developing the activity plan and timeline: Mostly led by community partner, with some student input
- Scheduling and initiating the communication plan (e.g. weekly Zoom check-in, biweekly email update, etc.): Mostly led by students, with some community partner input
- Implementing the activity plan (e.g. surveying stakeholder groups): Mostly led by students, with some community partner input
- Finalizing the deliverable(s): Equal leadership between students and community partner
Related Community Service Opportunities for Students
- There are many volunteer opportunities for students to engage with beyond this project, depending on their interest. This could include advocacy (e.g. supporting with writing media releases), research (e.g. data analysis and knowledge translation), marketing/promotion (developing promotional materials on the Coalition for different stakeholder groups), or more. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you are interested in volunteering for the BC Chapter or national Coalition for Healthy School Food.
Required Reading
Project/Partner Orientation Materials
Students should review the following materials prior to the first partner meeting. Additional orientation materials may be provided at the first partner meeting.
- Please review and peruse through our website: https://www.healthyschoolfood.ca/
- On our website, you'll find lots of readings/materials on healthy school food and what we are advocating for.
- You can also review our BC-CHSF 2-pager (coming soon)
- It might also be of interest to review the event summary from our 2019 Network Gathering
Additional Materials
- World Cafe principles
- Activating Inclusion Toolkit. UBC Equity and Inclusion Office
- Checklist for Accessible and Inclusive Event Planning and Respectful Dialogues Guide. UBC Equity and Inclusion Office
- Black, J. L., Mazac, R., Heckelman , A., & Elliott, S. (2022). Unwrapping school lunch: Examining the social dynamics and caring relationships that play out during school lunch. Canadian Food Studies / La Revue Canadienne Des études Sur l’alimentation, 9(2), 276–298.
Expected Outcomes
Intended Short-term Project Outcome
BC School Food stakeholders attend and have a meaningful experience at the 2022 BC School Food Network Gathering, building momentum for a publicly funded, universal healthy school food program for BC students
Learning Outcomes
Through this project, I think students will learn about...
- Coalition-building and collective advocacy; school food systems in BC and across Canada.
By working on this project, I think students will develop skills and/or awareness of...
- Develop skills facilitating and recording conversations with key stakeholder groups, and summarizing the contents of these conversations in a meaningful way that will advance provincial advocacy
- Awareness of diverse perspectives of school food program practitioners and other stakeholders
- Awareness of the steps involved in organizing a provincial event; and skills in event planning and organizing
By the end of the project, I believe students will come to appreciate...
- The value of Coalition building to catalyze food systems transformation; and the current momentous opportunity to build healthy school food systems in British Columbia and Canada