Heads up, #InstitutionalFood and #SchoolFood researchers! Can a breakfast be secular? Does lunch have a religion? If you serve halal or kosher food to someone without their knowing it’s halal or kosher, is it? Here’s to injecting a little critical food studies knowledge into our houses of government… Take a look at these two articles on CBC.com and weigh in with your thoughts!

“New secularism bill to ban prayer in schools, restrict offering of religion-based meals” (Nov. 24, 2025): https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/bill-21-expansion-quebec-9.6990951

“Quebec's new secularism bill targets daycare workers, prayer spaces and religious meals” (Nov. 27, 2025): https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-secularism-bill-9.6993278

#FoodStudies
#InstitutionalFood
#SchoolFood
#Religion
#Secularism
#Halal
#Haram
#Kosher
#Treyf
#CBC
#Québec
#NationalSchoolFoodProgram

photo: David Szanto

Digesting Food Studies (the CFS podcast)—Episode 111: Lunch Box Identities

What is “Canadian food” and how does its interpretation affect our identity and sense of belonging—especially in primary and secondary schools?

https://rss.com/podcasts/digesting-food-studies/2350341/

This episode unpacks the packed lunch, in particular those that the kids of first-generation immigrants bring to school. Two articles from Canadian Food Studies are covered, both co-written by Yukari Seko, “Unboxing the bento box” (Vol. 8, No. 3) and “Feeding children while Asian” (Vol. 12, No. 2). And in response, PhD student Shay Quinn offers up several perspectives on meaning-making, involving research participants in research, and arts-informed methodologies.

#DigestingFoodStudies
#SchoolLunch
#Lunchboxes
#SchoolFood
#FoodPrograms
#StudentSuccess
#PrimarySchools
#SecondarySchools
#SchoolBoards
#Hunger
#MentalHealth
#CulturalIdentity
#Families
#TheSixMillionDollarMan
#SteveAustin
#CareBears
#SchoolCafeterias
#FoodPodcast

photo: David Szanto

Digesting Food Studies (the CFS podcast)—Episode 106: School Food Programs

https://rss.com/podcasts/digesting-food-studies/2210715/

With the creation of Canada’s National School Food Program, myriad questions, challenges, and opportunities arise. Student success, cultural identity, food provisioning, and economics are all at play. As Rachel Engler-Stringer tells us in this episode, ongoing research and reflection will be needed.

First, Alexia Moyer’s Amuse Bouche segment reveals a number of lessons—some more useful than others—from Saskatchewan’s early 1900s school food planning. And in the After Taste, Penelope Stam responds to the focus article, “The case for a Canadian national school food program” (https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v5i3.260) from Vol. 5 No. 3 of Canadian Food Studies.

#DigestingFoodStudies
#SchoolFood
#FoodPrograms
#StudentSuccess
#PrimarySchools
#SecondarySchools
#SchoolBoards
#Hunger
#MentalHealth
#CulturalIdentity
#FoodSovereignty
#FoodSecurity
#FoodCulture
#SchoolCafeterias
#LunchLadies
#FoodPodcast

photo: Alexia Moyer

Looking for some rich, hearty, and satisfying food studies readings? Check out the latest book reviews from Canadian Food Studies!

Eating Like a Mennonite: Food and Community Across Borders (by Marlene Epp), reviewed by Aqeel Ihsan
https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v12i2.743

Serving the Public: The Good Food Revolution in Schools, Hospitals and Prisons (by Kevin Morgan), reviewed by Jennifer Sumner
https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v12i2.744

Hopped Up: How Travel, Trade, and Taste Made Beer a Global Commodity (by Jeffrey Pilcher), reviewed by Ethan Shapiro
https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v12i2.747

#FoodStudies
#FoodBooks
#Mennonites
#InstitutionalFood
#SchoolFood
#HospitalFood
#PrisonFood
#CarceralFood
#Beer
#Hops
#Brewing

Do you care about school food programs? Check out these great articles from our archives (from 2025 back to 2018), covering the intersections of food, schools, policy, pedagogy, and procurement.

Feeding children while Asian: Immigrant families’ experiences with school lunches in Canada (2025)

Partnerships and knowledge sharing for sustainable school food systems in Saskatchewan (2025)

Opportunities and challenges for school food programs in Canada: Lessons from the United States (2024)

Proposing a Framework for School Food Program Evaluation in Canada (2022)

Unwrapping school lunch: Examining the social dynamics and caring relationships that play out during school lunch (2022)

Characteristics of Canadian school food programs funded by provinces and territories (2021)

Beyond Health & Nutrition: Re-framing school food programs through integrated food pedagogies (2020)

The case for a Canadian national school food program (2018)

#SchoolFood
#SchoolLunch
#FoodPolicy
#FoodSystems

photo: Alexia Moyer

Phụ huynh lo ngại con ăn thực phẩm ôi thiu ở trường Tiểu học Cự Khê (Hà Nội). Hiệu trưởng đã phản hồi, cam kết sẽ kiểm tra nghiêm ngặt nguồn thực phẩm, nâng cao tiêu chuẩn vệ sinh và bảo đảm an toàn dinh dưỡng cho học sinh. #GiáoDục #AnToanThucPham #PhuHuynh #SchoolFood #Hanoi #ParentConcern

https://vietnamnet.vn/phu-huynh-lo-lang-con-an-thuc-pham-oi-thiu-o-truong-hieu-truong-noi-gi-2453113.html

Toward a national school food program in Canada
Understanding current landscape and context

#Children #Diet #SchoolFood #Health #Equity #Nutrition #SchoolFoodProgram #NationalSchoolFoodProgram #Canada

#Read all you want! #OpenAccess
#Share generously! #KnowledgeSharing
#Grow your understanding of #Food
#Repeat

https://canadianfoodstudies.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cfs/article/view/708

Review of Serving the public: The Good Food Revolution in Schools, Hospitals and Prisons

Jennifer Sumner

#GoodFood #Revolution #HospitalFood #PrisonFood #SchoolFood #PublicInstitutions #BookReview #BooksAboutFood #CurrentlyReading

#Read all you want! #OpenAccess
#Share generously! #KnowledgeSharing
#Grow your understanding of #Food
#Repeat

https://canadianfoodstudies.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cfs/article/view/744

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2025): On Resilience, Adaptability, Cooperation, and Innovation

Just Published!

#Read all you want! #OpenAccess
#Share generously! #KnowledgeSharing
#Grow your understanding of #Food
#Repeat

#SchoolFood #FoodWaste #Resilience #Equity #SchoolLunches #FeedingChildren #Environment

https://canadianfoodstudies.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cfs/issue/view/40

Unboxing the bento box: An arts-informed inquiry into Japanese families’ experience at Canadian school lunch time

Yukari Seko
Lina Rahouma
Chie Takano Reeves
Veen Wong

#Bento #SchoolFood #FoodCulture #FamilyFood #Immigration #SchoolLunches #WhatsForLunch #Canada

#Read all you want! #OpenAccess
#Share generously! #KnowledgeSharing
#Grow your understanding of #Food
#Repeat

https://canadianfoodstudies.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cfs/article/view/492