For Immediate Release
February 22, 2005

LAURIE SCOTT STANDS UP FOR LOCAL NUTRITION PROGRAMS

Today, in the Ontario Legislature, Laurie Scott spoke out on behalf of local nutrition programs across Ontario. She questioned the government’s plan to centralize the administration of Breakfast for Learning programs.

“Your efforts to centralize the administration will hurt local programs,” Laurie Scott said. “It will put children at risk.”

When service delivery is taken away from locally driven organizations like Train the Brain Include the Food, smaller communities can lose their voices. Centralization would also make it more difficult to raise money that is necessary to deliver their programs.

In her statement, Laurie highlighted the local Train the Brain Include the Food program that has grown from 50 children to one that now serves 5,634 breakfasts and 4,790 snacks weekly.

Laurie also took the government to task for their refusal to spend $4 million dollars that they had earlier announced. “It is one thing to announce money, it’s another thing entirely to actually spend the money. It’s time to spend the money that you have announced, so that children don’t go hungry.”

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