Lunch program expands in Nova Scotia providing over 100K children food

CITYnews halifax / By Natasha O’Neill

Thousands more students will be able to access lunches at schools across Nova Scotia this fall thanks to a program expansion by the province.

The Nova Scotia School Lunch Program is returning to all elementary, middle and is expanding to junior high schools with easier ordering and new menu options. About 104,000 children in 334 schools will be able to access healthy and hot foods. This is an increase in the number of children being reached by the program since its first year, which saw more than 75,000 students.

“We’re expanding the lunch program to junior high level, and we know that kids learn better when they’re not hungry,” Brendan Maguire, minister of education and early childhood development, told The Todd Veinotte Show.

The minister explained that the province invested about $80 million in the program this year.

“It’s less about the financial impact (and) it’s more about the educational social impact for these students,” Maguire said.

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The 2025 menu is updated to include those “kid-friendly options,” including chicken nuggets with wedges and mac and cheese. These ideas came out of several children-led focus groups the government held over the summer, the minister noted.

Last year, when the program launched, it was met with some criticism from students, like not being able to adhere to dietary restrictions, prompting the government to reconsider and revamp the menu.

“We want to make sure that when kids get lunches that it’s as warm as possible and as fresh as possible. So these are things that we’re working on,” Maguire said. “Ultimately, you can have a lunch program, but if the kids aren’t eating it, then what is a lunch program?”

For families ordering, they need to select their school and confirm the student’s name. Lunch dates start Sept. 8 or 15, depending on the school, with ordering now open.

While the program is not free, it also doesn’t require people to pay for the lunches, allowing access to those who are struggling to put food on their own tables.

There are three options for payment: the $6.50 for the lunch, pay a part of the cost or pay nothing.

Nova Scotia has the second-highest rate of children under 18 living in food-insecure households in Canada, according to data from the federal government and Feed Nova Scotia.