Nutrition programs - 2021-22

Due to Covid-19, the hot lunch program has been modified to a sandwich lunch program, and is $2.00 a day.  Please review the lunch menu above for more information.

The lunch program is optional, and provides a healthy, well-balanced hot lunch often made from seasonally appropriate foods. Included is a hot meat and vegetarian entree, fresh vegetables, salad, fruit, and milk or water.

Lunch is $3.50 per day.
Full-Day Kindergarten Lunch is $3.00 per day.

Students can opt in on a daily or monthly basis, selecting the days on the menu forms on the right. And since the kitchen rarely runs out of food, children can bring payment and buy lunch on the day of, although the more notice the kitchen gets, the better it can plan. No food is wasted, and is served on subsequent days.

The "Morning Meal" is a small snack delivered to classrooms mid-way through the morning.

Students must sign up to participate in the Morning Meal Program. They will receive a daily snack consisting of a fruit or vegetable, and either a grain or a dairy product.  Snacks are sourced from TDSB’s nutrition services, and meet all government nutritional guidelines regarding sugar, sodium and fat content. TDSB sets the menu and runs on a two-week cycle. Snack items include whole grain mini muffins, yogurt, fresh fruit and dairy products.

Please note that all snacks are Halal and occasionally the set items listed above may change due to unavailability or receipt of a snack donation through the school board’s official Nutrition Services Unit.

Cost for the Morning Meal Program is based on a donation to the program.  Please refer to the Morning Meal Program form for more information.

​The Morning Meal menu runs on a 2 week rotation. When Monday has an even date it is considered Week 1. When it is odd, Week 2.

This free club runs daily, 8am to 8:35am, although suggested donations of $10/month are welcome. The children are supervised during breakfast and released at 8:25am when the school yard becomes supervised. 

Both cold and hot options are available, including a choice of cereal, yogurt or fruit salad, and a choice of orange juice, apple juice or milk.

Ninety per cent of the food, which is made from scratch, is cooked in the Duke’s kitchen from ingredients sourced through board-approved suppliers and in-kind contributions. Duke’s edible garden, a parent and student initiative, also provides the program with fresh produce, including tomatoes, chard, lettuces and herbs, although the menu occasionally includes canned and prepared goods (such as samosas or Jamaican patties on special but rare days).  The bakery company we currently use is Sweet from the Earth.

​Every effort is taken to use ingredients that are local, seasonally appropriate and wholesome, although cost constraints prohibit all ingredients from being organic, for instance. Donations of local fresh foods are welcome, as are canned goods though items approaching their expiry date must be turned away.

The bakery company Sweet from the Earth uses the following ingredients:

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Whole wheat flour, whole grain rolled oats, evaporated cane juice, canola oil, dried cranberries, inulin, banana, organic coconut oil, baking soda, blackstrap molasses, cinnamon, flax seed, sea salt.

Carrot Muffin
Whole wheat flour, carrots, evaporated cane juice, unbleached wheat our, canola oil, applesauce, organic flax seeds, baking powder, cinnamon, inulin, baking soda, sea salt.

Whole Grain Blueberry Scones
Whole wheat flour, organic soymilk, unbleached wheat flour, organic palm fruit oil, evaporated cane juice, blueberries, rice our, vinegar, inulin, baking soda, non-alum baking powder, sea salt.

The nutrition program and all of its components are run by a coordinator, who reports to the principal, and two assistants, who are the only paid staff. The remainder are volunteers who serve the food, wash dishes, and help where needed (sopping up spills!)  Staff receive training in food-safety and food-handling. The facilities, menu and procedures are approved by Toronto Public Health (TPH) for cleanliness and dietary standards.

All three program components are subsidized by grants from the Toronto Foundation for Student Success, the charitable arm of the TDSB. This helps keep costs low, however, donations are welcome, which helps ensure no children are turned away. The remittance of monthly usage reports through the school office helps maintain the level of the grant.

The lunch menu is published monthly and the forms are available in the office, the lunch room and on-line. Staff make every effort to make the form available 3-5 days before the beginning of each month.