Students rally as breakfast programs cut in Hamilton and Niagara amidst rising costs

When the 8 a.m. bell rings at Hamilton's Westdale Secondary School, too many students are hungry, says Grade 10 student Tomi Olagunju.

Since 2015, students who didn't have enough time for a morning meal or enough food to eat at home could grab a free bite from the school's nutrition program. The program served 40,000 meals last year alone, or around 100 students daily, according to Olagunju and Kleri Venizelos, a teacher and nutrition program co-ordinator. 

But no more. 

In February, Hamilton Tastebuds, the organization that delivers school nutrition programs in the city, cancelled Westdale's breakfast program as part of an effort to save money and extend the life of other struggling programs. 

"For so many students, [Westdale's breakfast program was] their only source of nutrition," Olagunju told CBC Hamilton. 

School nutrition program operators in Hamilton and Niagara, including Tastebuds, tell CBC Hamilton that's just one instance of a program cutback. 

They say that due to increasing demand, rising food costs and dwindling donations, nutrition programs are offering fewer food groups, less programming or shutting down entirely.  

Despite the announcement of a national school food program in the recent federal budget — a program providers say they are awaiting more details on — nutrition programs at about 30 per cent of Hamilton's high-need schools are cutting back, Tastebuds manager Bhairavi Kumar told CBC Hamilton. 

That might look like offering an apple per student, as opposed to an apple, granola bar and cup of yogurt. And schools with two meal programs, including Westdale, are being reduced to one.

"We couldn't keep up," Kumar said of the costs. "It breaks our heart because we know that some kids are coming to school hungry … for some of them, this is the only meal of the day."

At Westdale Secondary, a lunch program continues, but Olagunju says that's not enough: "[Some students] have to wait for several hours before they can access anything to eat. I don't think it's right."

Olangunju is leading a student-run campaign called Bring Back Breakfast. At a rally in early May, students called for the restoration of their school's breakfast program, and for increased funding for school nutrition programs throughout Hamilton.

Open to anyone, such programs exist in many schools throughout the province, funded in part by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, but mostly through grants and donations. 

In 46 schools in the Hamilton area that the ministry designates as having the highest need, the province funds about 15 per cent of program costs, Kumar said. Tastebuds and schools themselves must fundraise to cover the rest.