The public school board’s nutrition pilot program has been so successful that even the minister of education has taken time to stop by and see it in action.
But even though the Canadian Rockies Public Schools nutrition program at Elizabeth Rummel Elementary School has been considered exemplary, according to Superintendent Chris MacPhee, a big change is expected next year – competition.
MacPhee and assistant superintendent Violet Parsons-Pack confirmed on Tuesday (June 20) that for the next school year the program is expected to expand into other Bow Valley schools and will be opened up to a tender process.
“We are waiting for final approval on the proposal,” said Parsons-Pack about the proposed 2017-18 school nutrition program submitted to Alberta Education. “Once we get that, we will do a call for proposals.”
CRPS received funding for a pilot nutrition program from Alberta Education last November, but MacPhee said tight timelines provided to get the program up and running during the school year meant the contract to provide a mid-morning snack to ERS students every day was sole sourced to the Iron Goat.
The Iron Goat, he explained, had a good working relationship with the school in already providing other services, and is very close to the school’s location. The program tasked school boards with creating programs that met specific needs and due to the fact that ERS does not have an adequate kitchen facility for preparing food for the more than 300 students enrolled meant an outside source was found.
The restaurant has also worked closely with the nutrition program at the school to tailor what is being offered to students to meet their needs. According to ERS Principal Brian Wityshyn, the nutritional program has evolved since it launched.
Not only has a nutritional program coordinator been hired, but they have worked with the Iron Goat to ensure all approved food groups and nutritional standards are being met.
“They meet on a regular basis to review the menu,” he said. “We have been putting surveys out for parents as well as the kids to get their feedback on a regular basis.
“One of the things we want to make sure of is that the students are eating them and we are meeting all the targeted outcomes.”
Students can opt out of the nutritional program and approximately 40 have done so, according to Wityshyn. The school has also adopted a system to reduce waste that includes cutlery for students that is kept and washed each day at the school and reusable containers mid-morning snacks are packed in.
Minister of Education David Eggen was in Canmore earlier in June to tour the ERS program. Eggen said the success of programs like the one at ERS has resulted in the nutrition program being expanded to all 61 school boards next year.
“I am very proud of the nutritional program in Canmore,” said the minister. “They have clearly used what they have available on a local level to not just feed the kids, but also make a connection to the larger community.
“Having a local restaurant supply the food, I think, really makes a difference.”
As for the future of the nutrition program for CRPS schools, Parsons-Pack explained grant funds are only available for students in kindergarten to Grade 6. As a result, the expanded program would provide added nutritional programming for students at Banff Elementary and Exshaw School, and some students at Lawrence Grassi Middle School, but not either high school.
She also said without provincial approval for the proposed program, it is too soon to provide details on what would be offered and where. She did say, however, that the tender process could result in multiple vendors across the different communities in the valley.
“Once we get final approval we will know better what we need to do for a call for vendors,” she said. “It might be one person, one business or multiple vendors.”
