Nova Scotia School Lunch Program
The Nova Scotia School Lunch Program is a provincial lunch program that offers public school students across Nova Scotia nutritious lunch every school day.
Read More: nslunch.ca
Since our early leadership in developing breakfast programs across Nova Scotia, Nourish Nova Scotia has played a key role in strengthening and advocating for school food initiatives—particularly those that enhance access to nutritious food for all students and foster engagement and learning around food. When the Nova Scotia School Lunch Program was announced by the Province of Nova Scotia, we were thrilled, and today our work continues: creating new opportunities for students to learn about food and actively participate in food initiatives at their schools—whether in the classroom, the cafeteria, or outdoors on school grounds.
While Nourish Nova Scotia does not operate the Nova Scotia School Lunch Program, we collaborate with provincial partners to help make school food programs the best they can be. And yes—we get lots of questions about lunch!
How the School Lunch Program (Actually) works in Nova Scotia
With so many lunches to make each day and unique facilities at every school, the journey of a school lunch (from kitchen to cafeteria, or classroom) varies from school to school, and across regions. In schools with kitchens, school staff might be preparing lunches on-site. Other in-school kitchens might be used by an external foodservice provider to make lunches for a single school, or many. And because many schools don’t have kitchens, outside food vendors prepare lunches and deliver them to schools each day. In each case, the menu and recipes are the same from Yarmouth Elementary to Cape Breton Highlands Education Centre.
Learn More with What’s for Lunch?
When the made-from-scratch Nova Scotia School Lunch Program menu launched, we saw an amazing opportunity to keep that momentum going. And when we heard that families wanted to cook school meals at home, we thought: Let’s turn those delicious favorites into a cookbook!
Within its pages, readers will meet some of the inspiring people behind Nova Scotia’s made-from-scratch school lunches, explore the origins of local food ingredients, and discover bite-sized fun facts designed to spark curiosity.
What People Have to Say About Lunch!
Since the launch of the Nova Scotia School Lunch Program, we’ve been gathering stories from students, school staff, and everyone who helps make the program possible—from local producers and delivery drivers to food service workers. Here’s what some of them have to say!
“I wanted to highlight a great example of collaboration and integration between our food service staff and students at Islands. Lawna Sullivan and Cheryl Boushey have been working closely with Grade 5 students on a project that connects classroom learning with the Provincial Lunch Program. The students gathered data on meal preferences and created charts and graphs to showcase their findings. This initiative not only helps students develop important skills like data collection and analysis, but it also strengthens the connection between food services and the school community. It’s fantastic to see our food service staff engaging with students in such a meaningful way, helping them understand the role of nutrition and meal planning in their daily lives.”
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School Food Program Lead
“I’m a grade 5 teacher at a rural school, and the lunch program is going really well here! Students are trying new things and are excited when their favourite meals come around. The salad bar is a huge hit as well. I love that there is no longer a scramble to make sure everyone has a lunch. Every student is welcome to eat, no questions asked. It may seem like a small thing but it really means so much.”
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Teacher
“Beyond access to food, this program has also encouraged students to try new foods and expand their palates. Kids who were once considered picky eaters are finishing their meals and even asking for extra vegetables! I’ve seen students excitedly encouraging their friends to try something new, which is amazing to witness.”
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School Food Program Lead
“Love love love it! It’s made my life so much easier and my kids have loved it! I can not express for very moms how helpful this is! It’s truly worth every penny, there’s been like 2 things my oldest hasn’t liked, so far both my kids (6 and 9) have liked it!”
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Parent
“Overall, this year has been about building the systems, partnerships, and production capacity needed to support large-scale school lunch delivery in HRM, while keeping as much of the program as possible rooted in the local community. This work continues as we learn more and more about each individual school we work with, tailoring to their needs so that this program has as much success as possible.”
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School Food Vendor
Through our partnership with the Province of Nova Scotia, we continue to build and strengthen school food programs across the province—emphasizing student engagement and the development of food literacy initiatives. Our ongoing work includes:
Food Literacy Programs & Resources
We develop food literacy programs that take place in the classroom and on school grounds – with the aim of cultivating nutrition knowledge, food skills, and healthy eating practices among youth. Learn more about our work to promote food literacy at school through programs like Grow Eat Learn and Farm to School Snack. We also create a range of tools and resources for youth and educators to engage in experiential learning around food.
Advocating for School Food
We are an active member of the Coalition for Healthy School Food and serve as the host and coordinator of the Nova Scotia Chapter of the Coalition (CHSF-NS). As the largest school food network in Canada, the Coalition for Healthy School Food has come together to advocate for a universal cost-shared school food program for Canada, following the Coalition’s 8 Guiding Principles.
Supporting Mi’kmaw Food Initiatives
We are working to support Mi’kmaw-led food initiatives in collaboration with Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey, as well as Mi’kmaq schools, communities, and organizations. We are a provincial partner on Nourishing Indigenous Foods and Foodways in Schools, with Farm to Cafeteria Canada.
Supporting School Breakfast Programs
School breakfast programs look different from school to school and continue to play a vital role in helping students to thrive. Nourish Nova Scotia facilitates national funding in support of school breakfast programs and offers a range of resources for school staff and volunteers.