Stats show that one in five children in Canada are at risk of going to school hungry on any given day.

This week, the Federal Government announced consultations to develop a pan-Canadian school food policy and explore how more Canadian children can receive nutritious food at school.

The consultations will include roundtable discussions with key stakeholder groups, including children and youth.

Ottawa will also be launching an online questionnaire on its "Consulting with Canadians" webpage in November, where all Canadians will be welcome to share their perspectives.

Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau says when they launched the first-ever Food Policy for Canada in 2019, setting up a school food policy was deemed indispensable. 

"Every child, no matter where they live, deserves access to safe and nutritious food to reach their full potential."

Based on the 2020 Canadian Income Survey and the 2021 PROOF report "Household Food Insecurity in Canada", 15.9% of households in the ten provinces experienced some level of food insecurity in the past year. 

That amounts to 5.8 million people, including almost 1.4 million children under the age of 18.