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Mealshare celebrates 500,000 meals donated to the Club.

There is an old African proverb that says “Alone, you go faster, but together we go farther.” This adage perfectly explains how two national non-profits like Mealshare and Breakfast Club of Canada combine forces to increase our impact. 

Our partnership makes perfect sense because our missions are so well aligned. The Club aims to give children an equal chance to learn by providing healthy meals in a nurturing environment. Mealshare makes it easy for restaurant patrons to turn their dining experience into a giving opportunity. Both organizations use our vast national networks to rally communities around the issues of nutrition and food access.   

 

The Club is very lucky to count on strong partnerships with like-minded organizations like Mealshare.  

8 years of partnership and counting 

Created in 2013, Mealshare is now present in 76 communities across the country. Mealshare found a creative way to partner with restaurants across Canada by designating select dishes on their menu as a Mealshare item. Restaurants then contribute $1.00 from each Mealshare item sold to charities like the Club, helping provide healthy meals to Canadians in need.  

Mealshare has been a strong and steady partner of the Club since 2015 and just reached the incredible milestone of donating 500,000 meals to the Club’s breakfast school programs. 

Fun fact: Mealshare began with only four restaurant partners at the beginning of this adventure, 10 years ago.  Today, the non-profit organization can count on the support of more than 250 restaurants across Canada. In 2021, they even surpassed five million meals provided to youth in need!  

A solution-focused approach 

Mealshare partners with charities that are well-known in their communities, inclusive, and focused on nurturing youth in need. Wherever possible, they take a solutions-focused approach to providing holistic support for kids and youth. “Our Co-Founders are cousins and best friends who grew up together in Calgary, Alberta. They founded Mealshare with the dream to be able to sit in their rocking chairs one day and explain to their grandkids that there used to be hungry children in our world… but not anymore.” explains Stacey Olsen, Community Leader Coach.  

Partnering with Breakfast Club of Canada was an easy choice for Mealshare; they know how important a healthy breakfast is for children’s overall health and engagement at school. Steven Letts, Advisor, Corporate & Community Giving highlights the great collaboration “Mealshare is a vital organization that has been a steadfast supporter of Breakfast Club of Canada since 2015. We are so grateful for this partnership and look forward to many years of continued collaboration!”  

 By providing meals in a school setting, children also have access to a built-in community of teachers, friends, administrators, and guidance counsellors to help make sure their full needs are being met. Olsen adds: “ensuring children start the day with a nutritious breakfast has so many lasting benefits and we are proud to partner with Breakfast Club of Canada to help make that happen.” 

Thank you, Mealshare for your support! 

Délicouki Brings Nutrition and Fun to Breakfast Programs

 

For Breakfast Club of Canada, making sure 580,000 children get a healthy start to their day through school nutrition programs across the country is a top priority. BCC is fortunate to work with some very generous and engaged partners at the local level to make this happen. Délicouki is one of these partners.

They are the makers of snack foods inspired by traditional Quebec recipes. They pride themselves on combining great taste and great nutrition, with an irresistible variety of foods that tickle youngsters’ taste buds. Délicouki joined forces with BCC in 2017. They have learned the ins and outs of school nutrition in the years since, working with nutritionists to adjust their recipes in accordance with the Club’s guidelines. Today, they provide wholesome snack foods to 542 schools across Quebec, putting smiles on the faces of more than 79,000 children.

An indomitable spirit of innovation 

Adapting Délicouki’s products was no easy task. Preserving the texture was the key to making sure each snack remained fresh and good to eat for as long as possible.  

Innovation has always been one of the company’s core values, so they embraced the challenge of reformulating their products to help broaden children’s palates, using a wide range of healthy ingredients selected to appeal to appetites of all ages. It was also important to bear in mind children’s specific nutritional needs in the morning, which aren’t the same as, say, an adult getting ready for a hike. “Every province and every customer has their own set of requirements. We work hand in hand with each of them to come up with solutions that meet their nutritional specifications without compromising on taste and texture,” said Isabelle St-Amand, Chief Operating Officer. 

They were originally approached by the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal to make a date-based breakfast cookie. It wasn’t long until several other school service centres showed interest in Délicouki’s products as well. The company’s offering has since grown and diversified, with several new foods, flavours and formats. They became so busy, in fact, that they had to move into a bigger space to keep up with the growing demand for healthy, delicious snack items.  

“At Délicouki, we believe that the next generation is our hope for a fairer and more equitable future. Feeding children now means helping them to achieve their full potential. We share this vision with the Club. Nobody can learn on an empty stomach,” said Isabelle, before going on to describe the many advantages of serving a nutritionally balanced breakfast at school. “We know that there are lots of children in Quebec and across Canada who don’t get enough to eat in the morning. And the problem isn’t limited to inner cities or underprivileged families. The positive impacts of breakfast go beyond the students themselves to benefit entire school communities and society as a whole.” Délicouki firmly believes that food brings people together and breaks down barriers, and that snack time is when connections are made, friendships are formed, an intergenerational dialogue emerges and schoolyard conversations begin.  

Breakfast Club of Canada could not agree more. Claudine Dessureault, BCC’s National Senior Advisor, Purchasing and Inventory, said, “Ultimately, the reason we work with Délicouki is because it makes kids happy. Students love the yummy food they make, and we love their willingness to collaborate with us to develop special products for our organization. They’re also extremely reliable: they always deliver the quantities we need, when we need them. Clearly, this collaboration between Délicouki and Breakfast Club of Canada is a winning recipe.” 

And psst! We’ve got a bit of a scoop for you! Délicouki is currently developing on a brand-new flavour for the Club. Be sure to watch our updates to find out what it is!  

Happy Anniversary to Our Partners at Staples Canada/Bureau en Gros!

Remise de chèque Bureau en Gros

 

This year, Breakfast Club of Canada and Staples Canada/Bureau en Gros are celebrating a very special anniversary: 15 years of working tirelessly and passionately for children.

 

On October 13, a cheque and some certificates of appreciation were offered at the Bureau en gros store in St-Bruno for the donation of the last Back To School campaign and to recognize the 15 years of partnership with the Club.

 

This support is absolutely essential, knowing that there are still hundreds of schools on BCC’s waiting list — a list that shows no signs of getting shorter any time soon.

 

During every back-to-school campaign, the associates at Staples Canada/Bureau en Gros have shown extraordinary motivation and determination to help raise funds for BCC. “At Staples, we believe that the back-to-school season should be a time of excitement and wonder. However, we know that this is not the case for all parents, teachers, and students as they struggle to provide children with the resources to help support a successful school year,” said Wanda Walkden, Chief Human Resources and Communications Officer, Staples Canada. “As Canada’s Back to School Destination, the School Supply Drive, which just wrapped up another successful fundraising campaign, allowed our stores to team up with charitable partners, like Breakfast Club of Canada, helping make a sizable, tangible impact in the Quebec and Atlantic Canada markets supporting communities where we live and work, empowering learning and growth for the year ahead.”

 

To shine the spotlight on this amazing spirit of commitment, we talked to Martin Dubeau, an associate and an enthusiastic supporter of the work BCC does.

 

Tell us a little more about yourself and your career path.

I’ve actually been working at Bureau en Gros for 23 years. I started out part-time when I was a student at Université de Montréal. I really liked the retail world, the people I was working with and the customers I was serving, so I decided to make this my career. I still enjoy everything about it, and I feel very lucky to work for such a wonderful organization.

 

Can you describe how you’ve contributed to this year’s back-to-school campaign?

In August, I reached out to the Frontalière running club and my fellow staff members, challenging them to walk or run in support of Breakfast Club of Canada. I myself pledged to go up and down Mount Pinacle 12 times in as many hours, and I invited other people to do the same, only at their own pace. It was all in the name of fun and charity!

 

Where did the idea come from? How did your co-workers react?

People like a challenge. The idea of walking or running to help Breakfast Club of Canada is a winning one right off the bat. I’m already an ultramarathoner, so I thought maybe getting other people to join me in my crazy antics would be a good way to drum up as much support as possible for a great cause. My team is truly amazing, and they jumped in with both feet. My son was even there for the entire event to greet participants.

 

What does this challenge mean to you on a personal level?

It was a great way for me to prepare for the UTMB 100 km mountain race, a unique trail-running event that goes through three countries (Italy, Switzerland and France). Incidentally, I ended up crossing the UTMB finish line in 26 hours and 4 minutes!

 

What does Breakfast Club of Canada’s mission mean to you?

It’s something I care a lot about for two reasons:

  1. It’s completely unfathomable to me that, in this day and age, there are still children who don’t have the basics — a wholesome breakfast — to start their morning. We’re always talking about investing in our future, for our children. So it’s an ABSOLUTE MUST they all have what it takes to get their day off on the right foot.
  2. As someone who runs ultramarathons, I know how important a nutritious breakfast is. I haven’t always been so disciplined, and I didn’t used to think breakfast was such a big deal. But I’ve had to make some choices for my health, and that’s when it really hit me how much of a difference a good breakfast can make and the impact it can have on your physical and mental well-being.

 

What other initiatives did your team get involved in during the Back-to-School campaign?

We had “bake sale Thursdays,” where someone would bring in a dessert and sell it to the other associates (like $2 for a homemade muffin). It was a delicious way to raise funds!

 

Our gratitude goes out to Martin Dubeau, Bureau en Gros/Staples Canada and all the participating associates for their hard work in support of Breakfast Club of Canada for the past 15 years.


Read more about our partners here!

Swingin’ in the Rain: Teeing Off for a Good Cause

BCC and JLL representatives

 

Despite the grey sky and heavy rain, JLL Canada and its industry partners teed off for the 2nd annual JLL Golf Tournament on September 19, 2022, in support of Breakfast Club of Canada. Held outside of Calgary, Alberta, the event is just one of the ways the partnership provides resources and funds to help feed school kids across the country, one breakfast at a time.  

 

As JLL Canada’s national charity of choice, Breakfast Club of Canada received all the funds raised through the tournament. In addition to the contributions made as a result of the friendly rivalries on the links, a $10,000 donation to the Club was at stake. The skill-testing challenge for the 24 golfing pairs: get a hole-in-one at a location, supervised by Breakfast Club of Canada staff. Unfortunately, the $10,000 donation remained unclaimed with many of the shots landing far away from the green or even in the water, although a few did come close!  

 

Events such as these highlight how BCC’s corporate partners work together to create environments where all children have the nutrition they need to succeed. Funding for equipment and food is just one of the ways these tournaments help BCC programs. BCC is a proud partner of JLL Canada and its commitment to ensure that students can access a healthy breakfast at schools in Calgary and across Canada. Since 2015, JLL Canada has raised $554,000 for BCC. The long-standing partnership between BCC and JLL Canada was recently extended for another five years, which highlights the organizations’ continued collaboration. In a speech after the tournament, Ryan Haney, Executive Vice President of JLL Canada, emphasized how the event brings Calgary’s real estate community together around a worthy cause — feeding kids and nourishing their full potential. As inflation continues to take a bite out of many families’ and schools’ food budgets, strong partners like JLL Canada enable BCC to continue making quality school nutrition programs available across the country. 

 
For more stories about our partners, consult our Supporter section.

Strengthening the Local Food System Through School Nutrition Programs

Student in a breakfast program

In addition to working directly with school administrations, Breakfast Club of Canada teams up every day with front-line organizations and partners that oversee existing school and community food programs. BCC provides multiple forms of support to help them keep these programs running and maintain a children-first focus.  

 

A special project designed to fight food insecurity  

A number of initiatives have emerged from these collaborations. One of these is the SALSA project in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec. SALSA stands for “Service d’aide local en sécurité alimentaire,” which translates to “local food security assistance service.”  

The project is an initiative of the community organization known as the Service d’intervention de proximité du Domaine-du-Roy (SIP-DDR), working jointly with the regional public health authority (Direction de santé publique, CIUSSS du Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean), the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Coop Chambord, Résidence Labrecque, Le Tournant 3F, Club Richelieu Roberval, Club Rotary Domaine-du-Roy and Breakfast Club of Canada. 

Ultimately, the goal of the SALSA project is to act as a hub for various local services. These include processing rescued food from retail establishments and farms and operating a community grocery store and collective kitchen.  

Breakfast Bins

How the Club is making a difference 

In addition to providing financial support to get the SALSA project up and running, BCC is contributing to a pilot project known as SAC (Service d’alimentation communautaire). To date, SAC has helped enhance existing breakfast programs in seven schools in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region by adding local products and improving the overall quality of their menus to feed 538 students every morning. In addition, four schools in the area that weren’t already served by BCC were able to start a snack program with help from SAC. 

The responsibility for sourcing food for these seven programs is a shared one: protein foods come from BCC and other sources, while fruits, vegetables and whole-grain foods are provided by SIP-DDR. BCC also helps SIP-DDR with other aspects, including planning and budgeting. Over the longer term, the SALSA project aims to enable the region to become self-sufficient in managing these programs.  

By the end of the first year of this joint project, roughly 25,000 breakfasts had been served to students. Going forward, the idea is to build on this success and expand the service to other eligible schools in the area.  

New kitchen and accesories

New facilities, additional services  

If the results thus far are any indication, with the Club’s help, the future of the SALSA project is bright indeed. A community warehouse and kitchen are currently under construction to store food items donated by partners and prepare full meals for school and community programs. These facilities will also be useful in making the most of food items rescued from various sources and in testing new and healthy recipes.  

 

Benefits galore  

The positive impacts of this partnership are manifold:  

  • It ensures students have access to a variety of healthy and locally sourced foods. 
  • It encourages school programs to serve freshly prepared meals. 
  • It helps reduce the corresponding carbon footprint. 
  • It creates local jobs. 
  • It optimizes available resources (volunteers, transportation, funding, etc.). 
  • It rallies the community around a common goal. 
  • It contributes to developing nutrition-related infrastructure, capacity and local expertise. 

 

A new partner 

Inspired by the success of this initiative, a first local financial partner has agreed to do their part for children. Our thanks go out to Nutrinor for contributing to the SALSA project and getting the area one step closer to self-sufficiency with regard to these food programs.  

An eco-responsible and collaborative initiative to benefit children

To celebrate the back-to-school season, Metro, Super C and Brunet have joined forces in an innovative campaign to offer the Trudeau lunch box in their stores to benefit Breakfast Club of Canada.

During the entire campaign, for each purchase of the lunch box, $2 was donated to the Club to help feed more than 580,000 children every morning in Canada.  Other participating products such as La Petite Bretonne mini croissants, Ficello, Danone Go from Danone, Oatbox bars and a selection of egg products also joined the collaborative initiative to help children have access to healthy nutrition, which is essential to their success.

 

This project, like many others, has a “butterfly effect” because not only eating a healthy meal at school has scientifically proven benefits, but breakfast programs also have positive effects on the school environment and society. As an example, 75% of parents explain being less stressed thanks to a lighter morning routine and 42% notice new tastes and habits in their children.

A sustainable action

This nutrition mission is important to our partner Metro, which supports many causes and whose community investment is part of its corporate responsibility plan goals. Since 2014, Metro and Super C stores have also been participating in the Supermarket Recovery Program to fight food waste and reinforce sustainable actions.

“Having the support of a major player in Quebec in terms of social responsibility like Metro in order to support this first consumer initiative in collaboration with Trudeau, is of great value to us. Metro and its affiliated banners have believed in our project from the start, and we are very grateful for their trust and commitment to the Club,” said Myriam Brisebois, Lead, Corporate & Community Giving – Quebec at Breakfast Club of Canada, before adding, “we are fortunate to be able to work with partners who share our values, while putting the well-being of children and the environment at the heart of their decisions.

Metro immediately embraced the idea of the lunch box initiative: “It’s an interesting concept that differs from our usual fundraisers. Raising funds for Breakfast Club of Canada while providing a useful item for families with children was a good action to introduce in our stores,” said Sophie Gélinas, Marketing Director – Metro and Marché Richelieu banners.

For Oatbox, another partner in the campaign, the mission is to feed as many people as possible using fewer resources and find smarter ways to eat. The Trudeau lunch Boxes initiative has therefore quickly become an interesting long-term goal. Indeed, it is a great way to put reusable packaging in the hands of hundreds of families as Marc-Antoine Bovet, Co-Founder and CEO of Oatbox reminds “we are very mindful of the environment. For us, using less packaging is another way to feed more people while using fewer resources.”

Thanks to this great collaboration, these major nutrition partners raised $126,416 for the Club! Thanks again to Danone, La Petite Bretonne, Oatbox, Lactalis, Egg Farmers of Canada, Metro, Super C and Brunet for their involvement.

 

Walmart Canada rallies around the Club’s mission to serve millions of healthy meals

BCC and Walmart Canada representatives with BTS poster

It is a well-known fact that daily school breakfast makes a difference in the lives of children and families, but it takes collaboration to make it happen.

 

Once again, Walmart Canada is stepping up as a major partner of Breakfast Club of Canada’s back-to-school campaign this year.  As the years go by, associates and customers continue to make a difference with the same energy to help nurture the potential of children by giving them an equal opportunity to learn. The success of this back-to-school campaign is critical to be able to continue to reach the significant number of children who have benefited from breakfast programs over the past year.

 

Strengthening communities

Serving communities lies at the heart of Walmart’s mission to save people money and help them live better by meeting the needs of customers and communities. With more than 400 across the country, Walmart associates are encouraged to engage with customers and local organizations in several ways to understand and support local needs.

This vision never changed for the past sixty years, when Sam Walton opened the first Walmart store in 1962. He had the ambition to create a place for people to access quality goods at the best possible prices. Since then, Walmart has grown around the world, but that commitment has never wavered. “This commitment is complemented by additional efforts, including disaster relief support, associate volunteerism, local grants and community investment initiatives such as fundraising to support Breakfast Club of Canada’s programs.

 

A mission at the heart of Walmart Canada

According to revenue projections, in order to maintain its support for school nutrition already backed in part by the Club, the organization anticipates a shortfall of $2 million for the 2022-2023 school year. Without a national food program and inflation having a significant impact on our operations, breakfast programs are more reliant than ever on corporate contributions.

“The benefits of eating a healthy meal at school are scientifically proven. It is not only critical for children, but also generates positive changes in school communities and our society. Walmart Canada and its associates understood it from the beginning and showed their passion for our cause.  We remain grateful for their unwavering support,” says Paul Lethbridge, Director, Corporate & Community Giving at Breakfast Club of Canada.

Since 1994, Walmart Canada’s extensive philanthropy program is focused on supporting Canadian families in need, and for the past 28 years Walmart Canada has raised and donated more than $500 million to Canadian charities. The company is committed to building and supporting strong communities, while inspiring associates to give back and spark change. “We believe every child should have access to nutritious food, so they are fueled to learn. Unfortunately, for too many Canadian families, this simply is not a reality. We’re so proud to partner with Breakfast Club of Canada. Together, we continue to make a real difference eliminating food insecurity in our communities,” says Rob Nicol, Vice President, Communications and Corporate Affairs.

 

The Walmart fundraising campaign runs until October 14, 2022. Online donations can be made on the Walmart website and in-store, in more than 400 locations across Canada.

Teaching sustainability one seed at a time

Children in line

In February 2020, thanks to the partnership with Pembina Pipeline Corporation (“Pembina”), new breakfast programs were implemented at Prince Rupert Middle School, Charles Hays Secondary School, and Roosevelt Park Elementary School.

 

Today, these programs feed 225 children and youth every morning and establish strong ties within the community with the objective of continuing to help students reach their full potential. 

 

Creating a community garden 

This past year, the City of Prince Rupert decided to amplify their efforts toward building a sense of community by creating a sustainable initiative for the school. The idea of a school garden was born. One of the active participants behind the project is Erika Boker, a grade 2 teacher at Roosevelt Park School with a passion for gardening. She explains, “every class is involved in different steps of this initiative which usually starts around Earth Day in late April. Tasks such as, mixing soil and planting seeds are split up. Once that is done the students do a series of observations around growth and sprouting. Boker stated, “what started with flower beds now produces a variety of fruits and vegetables such as beets, carrots, radishes, lettuce, Swiss chard, beans, peas, blueberry, strawberry, and garlic using the permaculture system.” 

During the summer holidays, families volunteer to look after the garden to ensure everything continues to grow until September when students return to school. Boker adds that, “whatever is ready to be harvested while families are taking care of the garden is theirs to take home.” 

Children in the garden
Pembina’s support 

Pembina has been a partner with the Breakfast Club of Canada (“BCC”) since 2016 in collaboration with Pembina’s signature giving and volunteering program, Fuel 4 Thought, which provides funding for breakfast programs in schools.  

Jaret Sprott, Pembina’s Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, is the Executive Sponsor of Fuel 4 Thought and a volunteer with the program. “It goes beyond making sure that kids get enough to eat”, he explains, “through our partnership with Breakfast Club of Canada, we’re also able to move the needle on a major social issue that impacts everything from education to wellness, and I’m very proud that Pembina continues to step up to the plate and deliver on our commitment to communities.” 

Craig Hilton, Manager of the Prince Rupert Terminal states, “although we are a newer member to the Prince Rupert community, Pembina is committed to exploring how we can work together with the city and surrounding communities on sustainability, health, education, training and employment opportunities”.  Pembina’s support provides a future full of opportunities for the Ecole Roosevelt Community School, which is currently in the process of establishing a more permanent community garden structure. The school plans to show students how to grow food and give everyone a chance to participate in the program.  

 

Through their community investment program, Pembina participates in local, provincial, and national non-profit and charitable organizations in support of safe, inclusive, and connected communities that foster a strong sense of belonging. 

30,000 Still Good Cookies for Breakfast Club of Canada

Partnership between Still Good, 3Brasseurs and BCC

 

From now until August 31, the people at Still Good will be teaming up with 3 Brasseurs for a campaign to raise funds to provide 30,000 upcycled cookies to Breakfast Club of Canada.  

 

Nutrient-packed cookies for an energy-packed start to the day 

 “Making upcycled cookies for Breakfast Club of Canada is something that aligns perfectly with our mission. This is the kind of partnership that inspires us to go the extra mile, year after year,” said Still Good co-founder and CEO Jonathan Rodrigue.  

Still Good started donating upcycled cookies to BCC breakfast programs in March 2022. The collaboration was forged out of a mutual commitment to making healthy, great-tasting and planet-friendly food available to students.  

 

Still Good and 3 Brasseurs: A dream team! 

Still Good has embraced a zero-waste model that aims to reduce food waste by repurposing local companies’ by-products into new and tasty food items.  

Still Good and the 3 Brasseurs chain of restaurants are working together this summer to raise funds for Breakfast Club of Canada. This isn’t the first time they’ve joined forces: Still Good rescues the spent grain from the beer brewed by 3 Brasseurs on a regular basis and turns it into a special kind of flour, which is then used by the restaurants’ teams to create several of the dishes on their menu.  

 

Cooking with spent grain flour 

Spent grain flour is a prebiotic that contains whole plant proteins, fibres and essential minerals. It is a delicious, nutritious and versatile plant-based alternative that can replace up to 30% of wheat flour.  

 

Making a difference 

Every dish made from spent grain flour sold in one of the eleven 3 Brasseurs restaurants in Quebec between now and August 31 will help fill the Breakfast Club of Canada cookie jar! For each order, Still Good will add another cookie to the total number of upcycled cookies donated to BCC.  

The goal is to provide 30,000 cookies to the Club by the end of the campaign.  

 

Partners

Still Good | 3 Brasseurs

A Winning Food Partnership

girl eating watermelon

 

In May 2021, Breakfast Club of Canada joined forces with Services Alimentaires Racines to set up a pilot project aimed at ensuring more children and youth could start their school day with a healthy breakfast.

 

Who is Services Alimentaires Racines?

Established in 2012, Services Alimentaires Racines is a social economy enterprise that provides food services to the local community in and around Huntingdon, Quebec. Fighting food insecurity at the local level is an important part of the organization’s mission.

Arthur-Pigeon School and Services Alimentaires Racines have been partnering to feed children for the past seven years. Staff members from the organization’s catering services go to the school to prepare meals that are then distributed to students in the surrounding area.

 

Enter BCC

Last year, a community partnership agreement was entered into between Breakfast Club of Canada and Services Alimentaires Racines to bring a hybrid menu to the students of Arthur-Pigeon School. Under the terms of the project, financed by BCC, Services Alimentaires Racines supplies the grains, fruits and vegetables, and the Club supplies the proteins directly from its warehouse.

The agreement was renewed at the beginning of the 2021–2022 school year to ensure students at Arthur-Pigeon School continued to have access to the program. Currently, that translates to roughly 250 breakfasts every day.

 

Onward and upward

In 2022, the pilot project was extended to include other schools as well. In January, Chateauguay Valley Regional High School, in Ormstown, switched to a different approach. Instead of having supplies dropped off to the school, the program rolled out a hybrid menu, which was made possible by the community partnership between BCC and Services Alimentaires Racines. Another 100 students are now part of the pilot project as a result. In April 2022, Heritage Regional High School in Saint-Hubert, Quebec, followed in these same footsteps, adding yet another 100 students to the roster.

 

Another actor in the fight against food waste

Les Complices Alimentaires is a collective project whose goal is to repurpose fruits and vegetables. Thanks to their work, rescuing surplus and unsellable products from grocery stores and other retail establishments, students have access to a variety of fresh, seasonal produce throughout the year. This group undertaking, alongside Services Alimentaires Racines and Breakfast Club of Canada, allows students from all three schools to be exposed to a wider range of food. When the growing season is over, Les Complices Alimentaires cans and preserves whatever is left to be enjoyed during the winter months. That way, nothing goes to waste!

 

Good things come to those who eat

The official metrics for the pilot project have not yet been released, but here is a sneak peek at some of the benefits that have already been observed:

  • An increase in daily attendance at Chateauguay Valley Regional High School, which climbed as high as 50% in only a few months.
  • Easier use, distribution and consumption of local products.
  • Streamlined discussions between BCC, Services Alimentaires Racines and other front-line organizations such as Moisson Sud-Ouest and Cantine pour tous as a result of the approach being used.
  • A lower staff turnover rate at Services Alimentaires Racines and an increase in production output. With financial support from BCC and others, the company was actually able to upgrade some of the kitchen equipment.
  • Reduction in food waste, thanks to the contributions of Les Complices Alimentaires, a collective social enterprise.

 

One year after the launch of the project, we are happy to report that a total 450 students from these three schools enjoy a healthy breakfast every morning. Communication with the administration of Arthur-Pigeon School is very smooth, thereby laying the groundwork for future opportunities with other nearby schools.

Stay tuned!