2026 CAFS Collective Book Launch

School Food Programs in Canada: Models for Success

Edited by Amberley T. Ruetz and Rachel Engler-Stringer

UBC Press

School food programs are recognized worldwide as contributing to improved health, education, and economic growth. As Canada looks to roll out its national school food program, School Food Programs in Canada, the first book on the subject with a specifically Canadian focus, provides valuable, timely examples of where and how these programs are working.

A historical overview of policy and advocacy is followed by case studies of existing programs, including in the Northwest Territories, Alberta, Quebec, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and PEI. The final chapter surveys school food policy in six other countries. Together, these domestic and international examples provide detailed, replicable lessons for Canadian policy and practice, addressing funding models, staffing and facilities challenges, food sovereignty, and food literacy.

School Food Programs in Canada brings together contributions from a truly interdisciplinary slate of authors, including university-based researchers, community-development organizers, educators, public health workers, and those working to inform health and food policy. By connecting the efforts of provincial, Indigenous, and federal policy-makers and practitioners, this book provides a framework for determining which program models and features best serve diverse communities – from Indigenous populations in the Far North to multicultural urban centres and rural regions.

Written to provide tools for policy-makers and practitioners, as well as for researchers and students in the fields of education, social policy, health and well-being, this interdisciplinary book will serve those looking for background on school food programs as well as models for future programming and policy direction.

Amberley T. Ruetz

Indigenous Insights for Planetary Health and Sustainable Food Systems

Learning from International Case Studies

By Shailesh Shukla, Priscilla Settee, Noa Kekuewa Lincoln

Indigenous Insights for Planetary Health and Sustainable Food Systems builds upon the indispensable resource Indigenous Food Systems (Settee and Shukla, 2020). Cultivating new partnerships with scholars, community organizations, and grassroots practitioners across the globe, this follow-up volume aims to improve the understanding and outcomes of planetary health and sustainable food systems through cross-cultural sharing of Indigenous-focused research and experiences.

Community-based case studies guide readers to understand the emergence, potential application, and renewal of Indigenous food systems and planetary health innovations and their role in supporting the well-being of their communities and lands and advancing the global vision of sustainable futures through interdisciplinary perspectives.

This novel edited volume is well-suited for courses in Indigenous studies, food studies, human geography, Indigenous and public health, health policy, cultural studies, global studies, Indigenous governance, environmental studies and science, natural resources and environmental management, and several interdisciplinary programs with a special focus on Indigenous knowledges and perspectives on agriculture, food systems, and planetary health.

Shy Cat and the Stuff-the-Bus Challenge

By Dian Day

Illustrated By Amanda White

Presented by Elaine Power

Introducing best friends Mila and Kit in a graphic novel about stray cats, school food drives, and hungry kids.

Best friends Mila and Kit spend their days doing fun things: they go to the skate park, play Truth or Dare, and pet the neighborhood cats. Mila’s favorite thing to do is draw her Shy Cat comics. But Kit’s is probably eating afternoon snacks. The first time Kit went to Mila’s house, he ate three bananas in a row without asking! Mila thinks rude is rude, but her mom says that sometimes, rude is just hungry.

When Kit has a meltdown at school over a “best before” date, a bag of apples, and a dented can—Mila realizes there’s something important she might have missed about her friend. And it all starts with their school’s Stuff-the-Bus food drive challenge.