The Manitoba government is continuing to support nutrition programs in schools with additional funding for the Child Nutrition Council of Manitoba (CNCM). This announcement was made by Education and Advanced Learning Minister Peter Bjornson.
“Through our investments and the council’s nutrition programs, children and youth are able to go to school ready to learn with a healthy meal to start their day,” said Minister Bjornson. “We know that children can’t learn if they are coming to school hungry and making these important investments means more students will have access to healthy food options at their school.”
The CNCM is a charitable organization that works exclusively with Manitoba schools and community organizations to facilitate nutrition programs that take the focus off of hunger and onto learning. The council supports more than 200 school and community-based breakfast, snack and lunch programs, serving more than 20,000 children and youth annually. Since 2001, the council has served nearly 20 million healthy breakfasts, lunches and snacks to children across the province.
“Every school day, we provide students with nutritious meals so they can focus on academics while they learn about and practice healthy eating,” said Viola Prowse, executive director, CNCM. “While instilling healthy lifestyle habits is important, our programs also serve an immediate need as meals and snacks we provide are the most nutritious food of the day for some students.”
The $200,000 in new funding brings the total funding to $976,000 per year for in-school and
after-school healthy foods programs for children who need it most, the minister said. He added it will help the CNCM to engage with high-need school nutrition programs and provide support that will allow for the development of new programs in inner-city schools, northern Manitoba and throughout the province.
“Nothing is more important than helping students succeed at school,” said Healthy Living and Seniors Minister Deanne Crothers. “Our partnership with the Child Nutrition Council is helping us address the issues of food security and healthy eating, and this new investment means even more children and youth will have access to healthy foods.”
The Manitoba government has been helping the CNCM to support more than 200 nutrition programs since 2008 including:
- 24 programs with First Nations and the Frontier School Division;
- 89 rural and urban programs outside of Winnipeg;
- 73 Winnipeg programs;
- seven alternative programs;
- four summer learning and after-school programs; and
- 44 vegetable and fruit programs.
