Ontario Student Nutrition Program - Southwest Region

We want to spotlight and say a HUGE thank you to the Ontario Student Nutrition Program – Southwest region for their friendship and support! In partnership, we have been able to provide bi-monthly fresh food boxes to families facing food insecurity in our community. 

Read on to explore this incredible organization, and all the work they do in improving student’s nutrition and supporting our local food systems!

OSNP is an amazing organization that administers funding and provides program support to 480+ schools across Southwestern Ontario in support of student nutrition programs. OSNP-SW is a program housed within the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON), Windsor-Essex.

VON is 1 of 14 Lead Agencies part of the provincial body Student Nutrition Ontario (SNO) who administer provincial grant funds to support the development and implementation of healthy breakfasts, snack and at times, lunch programs across the province.

Student nutrition programs serve thousands of children across the province to ensure that they attend school well nourished and ready to learn.

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Photo curtsey of OSNP-SW

What They Do:

  • Administer funding to schools for programs.
  • Deliver fresh & affordable food to programs in 350+ schools via OSNP’s bulk purchasing program
  • Invest in evidence-based research on health and academic outcomes associated with programs.
  • Provide ongoing support for programs and assist with the startup of new programs.
  • Coordinate with school boards, public health units and other communities.
  • Support local farmers, producers and distributors.
  • A member of Sustain Ontario
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OSNP by the numbers:

  • 113,641 students served
  • 18,436,294 breakfast or snacks served
  • 5,714 volunteers315,421 volunteer hours
  • 8 Ontario Student Nutrition Program communities
  • 471 Ontario studen nutrition programs, spanning
  • 10 counties across South-Western Ontario

You can learn more about the impact of Ontario Student Nutrition Programs here.

You can learn more about Growing Chefs! CSA program run in partnership with OSNP by reviewing our second issue of our 2021 – 2022 Classroom Journal.