PREPARED BY:
Healthy Schools Department
DATE:
June 15, 2023
SUBJECT:
Update on Healthy Eating/Food Literacy Activities in WEC Schools
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE
Directed by the Ontario Public Health Standard’s School Health Guideline (2018), the mandate of the WECHU Healthy Schools team is to improve the health and well-being of school-aged children and their families across Windsor and Essex County. The WECHU works with schools to support the implementation of the Health and Physical Education Curriculum and the adoption of programs, practices, and policies that enable students to practice making healthy choices. To ensure that programming meets the needs of school communities and builds on identified strengths, the WECHU consults and collaborates with students, parents, teachers, principals, school administrators, and school boards.
There are 168 local schools supported by the Healthy Schools team. Using a health equity approach to target the most vulnerable children and families, our program uses a two-pronged approach to service delivery: targeted and universal. In our targeted program, schools identified as higher needs are assigned a nurse who they can connect with directly. In our universal program, lower-needs schools can contact the Healthy Schools Program by phone or email for support. All schools are provided with WECHU-developed resources throughout the school year, which are also accessible from our WECHU School Health webpage.
Schools that identify healthy eating or food access as a priority during our annual school needs assessment, work School Health staff to create a targeted School Health Action Plan for support. The Action Plans are developed using the principles of Ontario’s Foundations for a Healthy School. Food literacy was introduced into Ontario’s Science and Technology Curriculum in 2022. As a result, our programs are being reviewed and developed in support of the new curriculum elements.
CURRENT INITATIVES
Supporting the Ontario Student Nutrition Program in Windsor and Essex County Schools
The Ontario Student Nutrition Program- Southwest Region (OSNP-SW) is a meal and snack program designed to ensure children have access to healthy food and beverages throughout the school day. The program is housed within the Victoria Order of Nurses (CON) Windsor-Essex site. These programs are run locally by students, parents, and volunteers, and are funded through multiple sources including provincial funding, grants, and local community groups, organizations, and fundraising. In the 2022/23 school year, 93 schools in Windsor-Essex enrolled in the OSNP, reaching approximately 29,000 students. The WECHU supports the OSNP locally by advocating for and supporting new schools to enter the program.
“You’re the Chef” Food Skills Program Training
You’re the Chef (YTC) is a food skills program that educators or volunteers can provide to students after being trained by a WECHU Registered Dietitian. Two sessions of You’re the Chef (YTC) Training were offered in March 2023 following requests from three schools. Interested schools who are identified as higher need, but lack sufficient funds to run this program, are granted start-up funds from the WECHU after training to purchase food or supplies. Trained schools can borrow YTC kits from the WECHU that contain kitchen equipment, and all certified instructors are given access to the YTC online portal for continued support.
Food Neutral Toolkit
The WECHU is in the process of creating a Food Neutral Toolkit for administrators and educators to understand the food neutrality approach and to implement it in their schools and classrooms. This new approach will create a supportive, positive eating and learning environment. The toolkit will be piloted in selected higher needs schools this fall, and then revised and released to all schools in March 2024 for Nutrition Month.