Calgary school food programs seeing unprecedented demand

Packing school lunches may seem like a chore for many parents, but there is a growing number of Calgarians that simply can’t afford to do it.

School food programs across the city are being stretched to the limit with thousands of kids relying on them for a nutritious meal five days a week. One local organization is working diligently to help tackle food insecurity across Calgary schools.

Bethany Ross with Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids says they organization was providing lunch for over 6,000 kids every day at the start of this school year. That number is up to over 7,000 as the end of the school year approaches.

“More than 30 per cent of kids in our province experienced food insecurity in 2023,” she says.

Ross says they are able to keep providing nutritious meals to kids 12 months a year thanks to generous donors and partnerships like ARC Resources. Each lunch comes at a cost of $3.50.

“We invite people for give their time, or give financially, to Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids,” she says. “But there’s also lots of other organizations in the city that folks can connect with and support to help make a difference.”

Sara Johnson with ARC says Calgarians have the opportunity to double their impact in May. The organization has committed $50,000 each May over the next five years to match all campaign donations to Brown Bagging.

Ross says the need isn’t slowing as they head into the summer months and work with community partners to provide lunches to hungry kids at camp.

“Summer can be a really tough time for families who have been relying on access to food at school,” she says. “There is some different work happening in the summer to help kids.”

Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids works with the City of Calgary, YMCA, Calgary Food Bank, and several other day camps to extend its reach all year long.

Much like school food programs, the Calgary Food Bank continues to see high demand despite lowering inflation. The food bank says they are serving up to 700 families a day.

Alberta received a failing grade when it comes to combatting poverty on its latest poverty report cards. Many other provinces in the country are also failing.

The report says one-quarter of Canadians report being food insecure and about half of Albertans surveyed say they feel worse of than they did last year.