What began as a soup pilot in 2023 has grown into a major school meal program serving children throughout the Shuswap!
Each week, our team prepares meals at Zest Commercial Food Hub using local ingredients whenever possible and delivers them to participating schools.
During the 2025/26 school year, SFAS provided hot soup four days a week and entrées twice a week, reaching 23 schools, 4 StrongStart programs and 3 community organizations — and serving more than 105,000 meals!
Supporting our local food system is at the heart of the program. Last year, SFAS purchased approximately $180,000 in locally grown produce and locally raised meat, helping us nourish students while investing directly back into our local farmers and food producers.
Registration for the 2026/27 school year is now open. Parents and caregivers can use our new online registration form to register their child for the Souper Meals program. Depending on your school, you will be able to select the meal options you would like your child to receive and provide us with important information about allergies or dietary needs. There is no cost to register.
SFAS believes every child deserves access to nourishing food, and our school meal programs are available to all students without financial barriers. We encourage all families who would like to participate to register. Registration helps our cooks plan the right amount of food and makes meal delivery to classrooms run more smoothly.
This year, we are using a “donate what you can” model so that all students can enjoy nutritious meals, regardless of their family’s financial circumstances. Families who are able to contribute can make an optional donation when registering.
If you are in a position to contribute, your donation helps cover meal costs and supports other students in our school community. Every contribution, big or small, is appreciated.
Food costs continue to rise, while our funding levels do not. Contributions ensure that the program can continue to grow—offering more than soup, more often, and to more schools.
Your support helps SFAS purchase local food, prepare nutritious meals and continue providing universal school meal programs that build community, reduce stigma and ensure that every student is welcome at the table.
Zest Commercial Food Hub
1140 4 Ave SW
Salmon Arm, BC
If you have questions about Souper Meals — ingredients, participation, donations, contact our Kitchen Manager at soupermeals@shuswapfood.ca
Shuswap Food Action Society believes that everyone deserves access to nourishing food at school! If you are in a position to do so, please consider making a donation to our program, to ensure that we can continue to offer it to all students.
Donations can be made at the button below (tax receipts will be automatically generated) or by cheque to Shuswap Food Action Society, dropped off to the school’s office, or mailed to P.O. Box 423, Stn. Main, Salmon Arm, BC, V1E 4N6.
Feeding Futures funding is provided to all school districts to support students who need it most by delivering school food programs in ways that reduce stigma. Students may experience hunger at school for many reasons, including forgetting to pack their lunch, not having time for breakfast one day, or not having enough food at home. Each school district has the flexibility to develop programs to meet the needs of their local communities. This means that school food programs might look different across schools and districts. If you have questions about Feeding Futures in our school district SD83, please contact Serena at scaner@sd83.bc.ca
For its success, this project does greatly benefit from volunteer support through meal prep (chopping a lot of veggies) and also delivering soups to schools.
At Zest we would love help on Monday (1 person), Wed (1-2 people), Thursday (1 person). We are there from 7:30-1:30 M-Th. Volunteers are not required to stay for the whole shift but would be most useful if they could be there between 8-11:30-12.
*Please note that we do require volunteers to complete a criminal record check.*
If you have an interest in seeing nourishing meals provided to Shuswap students, we encourage you to fill out our volunteer form and see how you can become involved!
We are looking for individuals interested in helping out with our “Let Food Bring Us Together” food literacy classes. If you enjoy working with children of all ages and are interested in learning new recipes from international community members, this could be a great fit for you! *Please note that we do require volunteers to complete a criminal record check.*
We encourage students to be curious and open-minded. Our experience has been that when surrounded by friends and peers in a positive environment, most students enjoy the soup, even if they wouldn’t eat soup at home. If you are worried about your child not eating enough, you can send extra food.
We work with parents and schools to create allergy friendly options. Be sure to reach out to our crew to ask questions! soupermeals@shuswapfood.ca
