b'SPECIAL INITIATIVESNational School Food ProgramOn March 9, 2024, Bill C-322, the National Framework for a School Food Program Act wasintroduced as a Private Members Bill. CSBA President Alan Campbell released a statement insupport of the program acknowledging the associations support for a national school foodprogram, which aligns with the work of the Comprehensive School Health Work Team. Following Bill C-322, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a new National School FoodProgram on April 1, 2024, with an investment of $1 billion over five years, for inclusion in the April16, 2024 federal budget. On June 20, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Families, Children andSocial Development announced the funding principles for the National School Food Policy.The CSBA is a long-standing advocate for universal access to healthy school food for all studentsthroughout the country. President Campbell was pleased to have been included in a briefingahead of the announcement, along with other national partners.The CSBA will continue to work with the Coalition for Healthy School Food in alignment with theassociations strategic plan goal of Comprehensive School Health. The CSBA understands thechallenges associated with the diversity of food programming, and will advocate for board andFirst Nations autonomy when distributing funding. Every province and community are different.School boards are ideally positioned to work with the Government of Canada,Territorial/Provincial governments, and First Nations and Indigenous Communities tooperationalize the National School Food Program to ensure it is as effective and efficient aspossible. It is widely understood that a school food program needs to be universal and nottargeted to specific families, reducing stigma and increasing participation.The CSBA will continue to monitor this work, and will advocate for school boards to be involved inthe governance of the programs at the local level. We look forward to further discussions and tocollaborating on the implementation of the program.'