Some N.S. families can now order school lunches under new pay-what-you-can program

The families of some students who will be using Nova Scotia’s school lunch program can now order their meals online.

Phase 1 of the lunch program, which launches next month, includes 255 schools with elementary school grades. Ordering opened Friday for 28 of those schools.

The province says parents can start placing lunch orders based on when the program is set to start at their child’s school:

• Sept. 20 to 25 – schools with an Oct. 1 start date
• Oct. 4 to 9 – schools with an Oct. 15 start date
• Oct. 18 to 23 – schools with an Oct. 28 start date

All start dates are listed online.

The menu contains 40 different lunches with two options available each school day, including at least one vegetarian option. The full menu is available online.

The province says the menu aligns with its School Food and Nutrition Policy while also recognizing the diversity of its students, with Mi’kmaw, Acadian, Lebanese, and Indian dishes among those offered.

The first lunch on Oct. 1 will be soft-shell beef or black bean tacos. Other meals served during the first week include sweet and sour meatballs or tofu, chicken or falafel wraps, and mini veggie or cheese pizzas.

All schools will rotate through the same four-week menu, but it will be staggered to avoid “strain on supply chain,” according to the province.

How to order

Caregivers and students can order lunches online at NSLunch.ca. They can pay with a credit card or Visa debit.

Families will order two weeks of meals (or up to 10 school days) at a time.

Ordering opens Fridays at noon and closes the following Wednesday at noon.

Pay-what-you-can system

The program is a pay-what-you-can system, which means families can choose to pay the full $6.50 cost of each lunch, part of the cost, or nothing at all.

The province says that information will be kept confidential and families don’t need to explain why they chose to pay that amount, or not pay at all.

With 255 schools involved in Phase 1, the province says more than 75,000 students could benefit from the program, and more than 13 million lunches could be served this school year.

Nova Scotia plans to expand the program so it eventually includes all public schools in the province.

The Nova Scotia government announced the new school lunch program as part of Budget 2024-25. It is spending $18.8 million on the program during the 2024-25 school year.