Teaching Toronto kids the importance of a healthy ‘lunchbox smorgasbord’

TORONTO - Chef Anthony Rose was at St. Anthony’s Catholic School to show a Grade 1 class how to create a “lunchbox smorgasbord” of healthy foods. 

But first, the Drake Hotel chef had to define the word for his captive audience.

“Smorgasbord means a bit of everything,” Rose told about 20 students at a healthy eating session to shine the spotlight on the importance of student nutrition programs. The Oct. 5 initiative marked the City of Toronto’s Feeding Toronto’s Hungry Students Week which runs from Oct. 3 to 7.

Hosted by the TCDSB’s Angel Foundation for Learning, which provides student nutrition programs to 105 elementary and high schools, the event gave students a look at what Rose packs in his son’s lunchbox every day, and why nutritious foods are important.

Standing behind a table stocked with chicken breast, cubes of cheddar cheese, dried fruit, hummus, whole wheat pita crisps, red peppers, cucumbers, tofu and romaine lettuce, Rose showed the class how to assemble fresh foods in a plastic container for lunch at school. Then he invited them to try the foods.

“I don’t like this, I love this,” blurted out one student.

“They need to be involved and their parents have to get them involved from an early age,” Rose told The Catholic Register. “That way, they understand. It’s part of their life and they’re making choices.”

“We believe that in order to learn, it’s important to feed the body,” said Tina Giustizia, student nutrition officer for the Angel Foundation for Learning. “And then we can feed the mind.”

The goal of the day was to raise awareness of just how great a need exists in our communities, said Sara Camilleri, executive director of the Angel Foundation for Learning.

“And the immense, positive impact that nutrition programs have on building bright futures for our city’s most vulnerable children,” said Camilleri.

Daniela Venturin, a child and youth worker at Madonna Catholic Secondary School, said the nutrition program makes a big difference at her school.

“A lot of our students come from areas that are not as well off as others and they come to school without having had breakfast… The funding they get from the various agencies enable the students to get a healthy start which will keep them alert. Otherwise, they literally do fall asleep.”

More than 30,000 children in the TCDSB use the Angel Foundation for Learning’s student nutrition program each day. And whether it be breakfasts, lunches or snacks, this amounts to 5.3 million meals annually. The programs are open to all, so that no one is singled out for lack.

While the three options of breakfast, morning meal and after-school snack are available, most schools have the morning meal program, as is the case at St. Anthony’s, said Giustizia. The morning meal is traditionally made up of dairy, fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods.

For information on he Angel Foundation, see www.angelfoundationforlearning.org.