‘It's so expensive’: Peel student nutrition programs feeling inflation impact

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YMCA's Student Nutrition Program of Peel currently supports 224 student nutrition programs impacting over 17,000 students daily in schools throughout Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon. - YMCA photo

Like many Canadians, Elena Caria sees the impact of inflation at the grocery store. The items she's picking up are not for herself but for students at St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School in Brampton who access the student nutrition program.

The cost of many pantry staples has gone up. The Consumer Price Index revealed grocery prices were up 7.4 per cent, with fresh fruit prices increasing by 7.1 per cent on a year-over-year basis in February, compared to an 8.2 per cent increase in January.

Caria has been running the school's grab-and-go snack program for over 10 years, making sure hungry students are fed healthy food. It consists of fresh or prepackaged fruits, whole grain crackers, yogurt and cheese strings.

The funding allocated isn't covering her as far as it usually would.

"The money that we received in the past, I budget $1,000 per week, and I would be good from Monday to Friday with enough food for students and extras. Now I'm finding that ordering the same amount using the same budget of $1,000 by Tuesday; I have nothing left. There's absolutely no fruit left," the high school teacher said.

In a school of 1,565 students, around 450 to 500 use the program. Caria says students who count on it could be coming from single-parent or multi-generational homes where there isn't enough food to go around.

"They are saying they don't have it at home. They're not looking for junk food; they're interested in the fresh fruit because when they go home, it's not there," she said.

Caria has had to make adjustments. She regularly checks grocery flyers for the best deals and buys in bulk. Donations directly from the school also help during weeks when she doesn't have enough.

Over at Brandon Gate Public School in Mississauga, around 185 of the 331 students are registered in its breakfast program. Bins are distributed to classrooms every morning, and food boxes are given to students at the end of each week. Principal Balneet Singh says the menu was adjusted during the pandemic because of the need for more prepackaged items, resulting in a cost increase this year.

Singh said the school falls into a lower socio-economic area with subsidized housing, single-parent families and many new immigrants who are facing early settlement issues who rely on the program.

In an email reply, the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services stated it invested an additional $10M into the Ontario Student Nutrition Program in the 2021-2022 year to address the effects of COVID-19 and the rising cost of food. The funding is administered by various lead agencies across the province and then passed onto local student nutrition programs so they can deliver support directly to schools.

YMCA's Student Nutrition Program of Peel currently supports 224 student nutrition programs impacting over 17,000 students daily in schools throughout Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon. It has felt the crunch, relying on discounts from some food distributors and donations to help manage increasing costs.

"As food security continues to be pressing in our communities and as it continues to be exacerbated by inflation, donations will be integral to feeding more children and families in need," Andy Seto, director of YMCA's Student Nutrition Program of Peel, said.

"Healthy food is expensive, as we all know, so we really had to rely on our partners during this time."

Seto says it's hard to tell who might be dealing with food insecurity, whether they may be sick or impacted by job loss, but he wants families to know they are not forgotten about.

"Everything that we do is trying to help the community, help people shine and reach their potential," said Seto.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Many Canadians are feeling the impact of inflation. We wanted to look at the current challenges Peel food programs that work to keep hungry students fed are facing as grocery bills increase.