Food for All: Promoting Healthy Eating at School, Home and in the Community

The places, prices, ads and options around you that affect what you eat.

Any two: breakfast or snack program open to all; water refill stations; healthy fundraisers; enough time to eat; school gardens; cooking clubs; following the School Food and Beverage Policy.

Any two: keep fruit, vegetables and water easy to grab; cook together; eat together without screens; let teens plan meals; batch-cook.

Any two: community gardens, farmers' markets, food banks or community fridges, healthier snacks at arenas, cooking programs, supporting Indigenous food initiatives.

Not having reliable access to enough food because of money or other barriers.

It often has to be flown in over long distances.

False. The best programs are open to everyone, so no one is singled out.

Any one: fruit or vegetable box sales, plants or seeds, a fun run, a car wash, a book sale.

Any one: food bank, community fridge, community garden, farmers' market, community kitchen, place of worship food program.

To encourage something or make it easier.

At the front and at eye level.

People may buy the food elsewhere, feel restricted or resentful, and still not have healthy options they like. Adding appealing, affordable options works better.

It's the right of communities to decide on their own food systems, including traditional foods and harvesting practices like hunting, fishing and gathering, and to pass on that knowledge.

Example: write a respectful letter or petition to the arena manager or town council asking to add options like water, fruit, yogurt, wraps or soup. A youth hockey team could support it.

You control ingredients (less sodium, sugar and saturated fat), learn life skills, and often eat together.

Ask students and families what they eat; include culturally familiar foods; offer halal, vegetarian and allergy-safe options; celebrate foods from different cultures.

Example: Problem: teens buy chips and pop after school because nothing else is nearby. Strategy: a youth-run community garden plus a weekly "cook and eat" night at the community centre. Partners: recreation centre, public health unit, a local grocery store, Elders or community members who garden. Measure: number of youth taking part, a before-and-after survey about snacks, harvest totals. Any complete, realistic plan.

B is more likely to work: it adds an appealing, free healthy option and is inclusive. A removes one choice but doesn't add healthy ones, may feel punishing, and students can still eat candy elsewhere. Combining a positive option with clear rules can work best.

What people eat depends on access, cost, time, skills and marketing, which individuals can't fully control. Communities shape these (schools, stores, governments, programs), so making healthy food available and affordable helps everyone, especially families facing food insecurity.