Immense gratitude shared by The Food Sharing Project for school food
announcements from Federal government and Province of Ontario
Kingston, Ontario, October 14, 2025
The Food Sharing Project, which provides nutritious food to all 88 schools across KFL&A, is thrilled with announcements on October 10 from the federal government and Province of Ontario to increase funding to school food programs. Prime Minister Carney announced that the federal commitment to funding for the National School Food Program will be made permanent in the November 2025 Budget. At almost the same time, Minister Parsa of Ontario’s Ministry of Children,
Community and Social Services announced that Ontario will increase it’s annual funding to Student Nutrition Programs by $5 million.
Brenda Moore, Chair of The Food Sharing Project was elated with both announcements. “Funding from the National School Food Program started to flow to us last January and it has been transformational, allowing us to move to the next level of school food support. We launched Lunch is Ready! Le déjeuner est prêt! a pilot project in which we delivered 12,000 prepared lunches to seven elementary schools between April and June 2025. A freshly prepared, hearty lunch with a nutritious main item accompanied by milk and fruit is what students need to thrive, and the pilot was very successful. Until Friday, expansion was a dream but now we can confidently turn that dream into reality and provide the robust food our children and youth so desperately need to support their physical, emotional and mental health.”
The Food Sharing Project is the non-profit organization that provides nutritious food and equipment for Student Nutrition Programs in every KFL&A school. Each week, volunteers pack over 450 boxes of food, with an accumulated weight of 9 tonnes and an value of $25,000, which are delivered to schools where school staff and volunteers endeavour to prepare snacks and meals for any student who needs healthy food, no questions asked.
Moore says, “The reality is that educators, teachers and educational assistants, have very limited time outside of their classroom responsibilities to make sandwiches, toast bagels or cut up fresh fruit and vegetables. It is heart-breaking for them because they are in tune with the needs of their students and they know that kids are going hungry, every day at their school.”
“The need for healthy food at schools continues to increase every year as families struggle with the affordability crisis,” says Andy Mills, Executive Director of The Food Sharing Project. “Families have had too many years of record increases in food costs, with no corresponding relief in the high cost of rent, their mortgage or gas to get to work. They are increasingly relying on the availability of food at school for their kids and our funding can’t keep up.”
Moore hopes that the additional $5M in provincial funding will be the first of a phased-in approach to bring funding from the Ontario government closer to that of other provinces and territories. “Hopefully, the province will see permanent funding at the national level as an assurance that Canadians share the belief that no child should go to school hungry, and they will be eager to add further investment to ensure children in Ontario can reach their full potential.”
“Our work is not done with these two announcements. A national school food program, where every child has access to a nutritious meal every day, prioritizes the health and wellbeing of our children but it is a massive financial undertaking. It will take all of us, all levels of government, business leaders, corporate sponsors, and support from the broader community to make it happen. The Food Sharing Project will look to our community partners and generous donors, as well as develop new partnerships to work with us to invest in the future of our children and in the future of our community. We all are responsible for the wellbeing of others, and we must dedicate ourselves to ensuring that our children and youth have the food they need to thrive.” concludes Moore.
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For more information contact:
Brenda Moore, Chair, Board of Directors, The Food Sharing Project
613-483-6818
brekmoore@gmail.com
For more information about The Food Sharing Project contact: andy@foodsharingproject.org or go to www.foodsharingproject.org
