La Verendrye School, located on the northern edge of Portage la Prairie, is launching a new free lunch program this school year, aiming to provide healthy meals while supporting families who may face food insecurity.
Principal Al Patterson, stepping into the role after serving as vice principal, says the initiative is part of a broader community schools program designed to ensure nutritious meals are accessible to all students.
A program for every student
"It's a lunch program that is open to any students who are interested in having lunch during that day," said Patterson. "We plan to have a menu that we will use specifically to provide a hot or a healthy lunch for our students. Provide some of that food security that some of our families are struggling with."
The program is completely free and also includes breakfast and snacks for students.
Patterson adds, "We are going to have a staggered start system for our lunch program, which is going to start with the early years to get them settled in first. Then we're going to gradually move into the middle years and the upper middle years. And by the middle of October, we should have the whole school as part of our lunch program."
Part of a wider initiative
The lunch program is also running at North Memorial and Fort la Reine schools, part of a government initiative to support families in areas with lower socioeconomic status.
"We used to have a canteen here previously that was run by an outside organization," explained Patterson. "We are completely switching to an in-house program that is going to be run by a food person who was with us last year. She's going to continue to be part of it with a little bit of support."
He notes the school is still finalizing where students will eat and how supervision will be managed, but the focus remains on preparing and serving meals efficiently.
Students will submit their lunch orders each morning so meals can be ready by lunchtime.
Enrollment and expectations
With an enrollment of around 375 students, Patterson adds, "Not 100% sure how many people are going to access it. I'm sure it's going to kind of depend on the menu options. Some students will like certain foods and some students probably won't like certain foods, so that might play a part in whether or not they access it. But the bottom line is that there is access to it."
The new lunch program represents a major step toward supporting student health and ensuring all students have access to nutritious meals throughout the school day.
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