"Scaling up, scaling out, and scaling deep": Opportunities for integrating local food into a universal school food program in British Columbia, Canada

School food programs (SFPs) in K-12 schools in British Columbia (B.C.) provide many benefits to students, including food literacy education, procuring local foods, and connecting with growers and harvesters in their community. Not all students have access to SFPs, so the benefits of such programs are not equitably distributed across the province. Governments must address gaps in the school food supply chain to enable more students to access SFPs. These include policy gaps, lack of food infrastructure and dedicated funding, and lack of support for local food providers and the local economy. This research draws from two cross-sectoral workshops with stakeholders in the food supply chain and the school food environment in B.C. The findings from this research informed recommendations for systems change by scaling up impact through policy and governance, scaling out impact through investment in the local food economy and infrastructure, and scaling deep through education and place-based cultural practices. This study has implications for the proposed pan-Canadian school food policy and expanding SFPs in B.C.