Why supporting a healthy school canteen matters
The whole school benefits from a healthy canteen.
✔️ Students have access to nourishing food
✔️ Teachers notice improved concentration
✔️ Families gain extra support
Many canteens are facing challenges such as staff shortages, rising costs, and the push of highly processed snacks from the food industry. By supporting your school canteen, you’re making sure your child has access to fresh, nourishing food at school.
Healthy food helps learning
When children eat well, they can focus better and have more energy for the day. Around one third of their daily food is eaten at school, so the food available really matters.
At Cambewarra Public School in NSW, packaged snacks were replaced with fruits, vegetables, dips and smoothies for eight weeks. Teachers noticed improved concentration and participation in the classroom.
Nutrition habits start early
School is the perfect place to encourage healthy eating habits. Children are at a stage where they’re learning quickly and open to new ideas. Being surrounded by healthy food every day, children learn to enjoy and value nutritious food. This environment sets them up to enjoy balanced diets as they grow into adults.
A canteen families can rely on
A healthy school canteen helps take the pressure off families. Between work, school drop offs and everything else, packing a lunch box every morning can be stressful enough. Add the challenge of making it nutritious and it’s easy to see why busy schedules mean more families are relying on canteen food to feed their children at school. Knowing your child can get tasty, nourishing food at school gives parents one less thing to worry about.
How you can help
- Volunteer in the canteen, join the P&C and advocate for healthier options
- Share ideas to keep the menu exciting and balanced.
- Support your child to try new options from the canteen.
- Encourage canteen staff to use FoodChecker to assess their menu against government guidelines.
Together we can keep our school canteens thriving – get involved today!
Discover advocacy ideas in the freshSNAP parent guide to support your healthy school canteen.
