By: Lindsay Corbin, Coordinator of the NS Chapter of the Coalition for Healthy School Food.
Photo Credit : Sarah Jordan Saltwire
Jordan Luddington (left) and Audrey Taylor (right) are two Northumberland Regional High School students who are part of Karma Closet. They volunteer their lunch hour to help clean up and keep the flow of students organized.
The Karma Closet began in 2019 as a project of teacher Karen Berezowski- Miss B’s- Physical Education- Yoga 11 class, with a goal to improve student access to food and other necessities.
Read more about the Karma Closet here.
This time last year, Lindsay Corbin, Coordinator of the NS Chapter of the Coalition for Healthy School Food started an advocacy project to engage students from the Karma Closet school lunch program at Northumberland Regional High School.
Jessica Fagan, a grade 12 student and Audrey Taylor, a grade 10 student, enthusiastically accepted Lindsay’s support to organize a letter-writing campaign to the Prime Minister. Stacks and stacks of letters were delivered to their local MP, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Sean Fraser to pass along to the PM, along with an invitation for MP Fraser to visit their lunch program, which was about to get a major upgrade courtesy of Red Seal Chef and teacher Paul Heighton.
When Minister Fraser visited NRHS in January, he realized it was about so much more than a student feeding program, and he knew this would be the perfect place for Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Jenna Sudds to launch the National School Food Policy. While he couldn’t make any promises, the seed was planted, and the rest is history.
June, 20, 2024, Release of the National School Food Policy at Northumberland Regional High School
On June 20th, Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Sudds launched Canada’s School Food Policy alongside Jessica Fagan and Principal Matt O’Toole. They got to see firsthand what this dream team has created, and how it embodies many of the CHSF’s 8 guiding principles. They got to see and taste the food made by Service and Culinary Trades students, Karma Closet volunteers serving and cleaning up, Miss. B and Chef Heighton’s leadership, and produce grown by Kelly Timmons’ Agriculture 11 class that makes a regular appearance in the new salad bar.
The Northumberland Karma Closet continues to grow and expand with many exciting plans for the next school year!