MONCTON, N.B. – According to New Brunswick’s child and youth advocate, the amount of young people who are overweight or obese has climbed from 23 to 28 per cent.
But the Anglophone East School District has launched a pilot project aimed to offer kids healthier options in the school cafeteria. The program focuses on adding more locally grown healthy food options to the menu.
Grade 11 student Anthony Courneyea said the new menu at his school’s cafeteria is a welcome change.
“It’s a lot better. There was fries all the time, now there’s actually healthy food,” he said.
Prompted by parents concerned their kids were not getting enough nutrition at school, the Anglophone East School District’s Aubrey Kilpatrick said they launched a healthy cafeteria pilot project at Bernice MacNaughton High School in Moncton this year.
“We are trying to increase the amount of local and fresh offerings for our schools and for our students and it is going really well,” Kilpatrick said.
Garlic fingers and fries have been replaced by fresh produce and meats and the meals are made from scratch.
“The last couple of years especially in grade nine I used to bring my own lunch so I can eat healthy especially for the sports I had afterwards but this year it’s really switched up,” said Bryson Woodworth.
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Pizza is on the menu. But now students have a wide variety of healthier options like salads and freshly cooked meals.
Teacher Heather Lewis says the menu change is encouraging kids to think about where their food comes from and to eat healthier.
Almost a third of New Brunswick’s youth are overweight or obese.
“That’s a big thing but it is also mental health issues and really if you want to have top performance, kids and everybody needs to be fueling their body with proper nutrition,” Lewis said.
Next semester the school plans to add a salad bar with primarily locally sourced produce. Once this pilot project is complete the district hopes to expand the healthier cafeteria option to all schools in the district.
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