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Advancing Universal, Healthy School Food: The Alberta Experience

Engaging Albertans in strategies to ensure secure access to safe, nutritious, culturally appropriate food for everyone, produced sustainably and provided with dignity. Advocating for a Universal School Food Strategy in Alberta that includes healthy meals, student involvement, food education, and local procurement.

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Advancing Universal, Healthy School Food: The Alberta Experience

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  1. Advancing Universal, Healthy School Food: The Alberta Experience Susan Roberts, Alberta Food Matters Kayla Atkey, Alberta Policy Coalition for Chronic Disease Prevention

  2. Overview Who are we? A Universal School Food Strategy for AB Current Activities Lesson Learnt

  3. Alberta Food Matters • Mission: Engaging Albertans in strategies to ensure secure access to adequate amounts of safe, nutritious, culturally appropriate food for everyone, produced in an environmentally sustainable way and provided in a manner that promotes human dignity. • The Growing Food Security in Alberta (GFSA) network operates through Alberta Food Matters • APCCP Organizational member.

  4. Alberta Policy Coalition for Chronic Disease Prevention • 17 member organizations. • Coordinate efforts, generate evidence and advocate for policy change to reduce chronic disease in Alberta. • Intervention arm of a research group at the University of Alberta, School of Public Health. • Focus on 4 risk factors: • Healthy Eating • Physical Activity • Alcohol Related Harm • Tobacco Reduction

  5. A Universal School Food Strategy for Alberta • Advocating for the AB government to take the lead on the development of a Universal School Food Strategy. Specific components include: • Healthy meals and snacks, sourced by local producers • Student involvement in the cultivation and preparation of food • Education on the food system • Relationships with local producers and the development of local procurement policies.

  6. Background • Promoting healthy eating and food security through policy change in Alberta. • Call for a Universal School Food Strategy emerged through a collaborative process initiated in 2012. • Graduate research project, which brought together a small group of diverse actors.

  7. Our Advocacy Focus – Key Considerations • Many programs are currently ad-hoc and voluntary in nature. • Government support & universal access. • Extending beyond the provision of school feeding programs. • Health promotion lens.

  8. Current Activities • Presentations at community events and conferences • Meeting with Decision-Makers • Collecting endorsements • Survey of political leaders (Community-Service Learning Project) • Electronic Resource Kit for GFSA Website • APCCP Scan of school food environments • Wellness Alberta Campaign

  9. Scan of School Food Environments • Led by Dr. Kim Raine, University of Alberta School of Public Health • Explores school food programs, services, policies and administrative procedures, and school demographics. • Survey of school principals (n = ~ 800) • First Round Responses (n=139)

  10. Additional Info • Growing Food Security in Alberta • http://www.foodsecurityalberta.org • Endorsement Form • Position Paper and Key Messages Alberta Policy Coalition for Chronic Disease Prevention www.apccp.ca Policy Readiness Tool www.policyreadinesstool.com

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