My school lunches in the 1980s were far from gourmet. They were mostly white bread salami sandwiches that could be smelled from across the room, a boring fruit (usually a Red Delicious apple that never lived up to its name), generic granola bar and juice box. But the point is, I had lunch. Every day.

That’s not the case for so many kids today. Nearly one in four households in Ottawa faces food insecurity, according to a 2023 statistic from Ottawa Public Health.

That translates to as many as 40,000 kids going to school hungry, says Abhi Potdar, founder and CEO of Nutrition Blocs, a non-profit working to close the gap in access to food by ensuring children get the meals they need.

“Kids will never be able to chase their dreams on an empty stomach,” said Potdar.

Originally from Mumbai, India, Potdar moved to Ottawa with his wife and young son more than seven years ago. “We thought Ottawa seemed like a good place, but we didn’t know a single person here,” he recalled. Hoping to leverage his background in the non-profit sector, he soon found work with the Rideau Community Hub, a network of social service agencies supporting the Rideau/Vanier neighbourhoods.

But his true passion has always been putting an end to child hunger. Following his earlier postgraduate work in Massachusetts, where he studied on a scholarship, he led the largest school meal program in New England.

So, when Potdar arrived in Ottawa and discovered there was no school meal program at his son’s elementary school, he saw an opportunity to put his skills to use and fill a critical gap.

In 2018, despite having no entrepreneurial background, Potdar founded Nutrition Blocs while still holding down his full-time job. The initiative officially launched in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week, the community came together to celebrate a major milestone: Nutrition Blocs’ new charitable status through its acquisition of Food for Thought, a grassroots charity started by Sylvain de Margerie during the pandemic. Notable attendees included Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and city councillor Rawlson King (Rideau-Rockcliffe).

By early 2023, Food for Thought had served more than one million hot and nutritious meals to the community. Once the pandemic ended, however, the organization began to wind down, making Nutrition Blocs a fitting way for its mission to live on, said Potdar.

The recent gathering was held at Coconut Lagoon, the South Indian restaurant on St. Laurent Boulevard, owned by award-winning chef and humanitarian Joe Thottungal, a supporter and board member of Food for Thought. His commitment to helping others dates back to his childhood in Kerala, where his family shared food with neighbours in need. During the lockdowns, Thottungal prepared hundreds of meals a day while his own restaurants were closed.

“Nutrition Blocs was a natural place for Food for Thought to land,” said Potdar. “I’m feeling very optimistic, very excited.”

From left, Coconut Lagoon chef, owner, and community leader Joe Thottungal, Food for Thought founder Sylvain de Margerie and Abhi Potdar, founder and CEO of Nutrition Blocs. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Nutrition Blocs works with schools, community organizations, and service agencies to design and deliver hot and nutritious meals. Every day, it helps feed children living with their families in transitional housing motels. It provides hot lunches to summer camp kids from food-insecure households.

It also works with local organizations such as OrKidStra, a social development through music program, by helping to keep its young musicians fueled with food.

Nutrition Blocs’ involvement with SWAG (Students Will All Graduate) has helped more youth, especially those from marginalized racial communities, graduate from high school and pursue post-secondary education, said Potdar, noting the program’s near 100 percent graduation rate.

“We’re not saying we’re solely responsible for that difference, but we feel that nutrition plays a role. We’re hearing that more kids are participating and that they’re more focused, and that they have more energy and are less distracted.”

Nutrition Blocs also continues to maintain a positive relationship with ONFE, the well-established organization responsible for the Ottawa School Breakfast Program. “We’re not looking to operate in the breakfast space,” Potdar emphasized.

Currently, Nutrition Blocs delivers approximately 2,000 meals per week. About one-quarter of its funding comes from municipal support and government grants, while another quarter is provided by community service clubs, religious charitable foundations and community foundations. An additional 25 to 30 percent comes through partnerships with social service organizations that have funding but lack resources to develop a food program, as well as with community kitchens that have facilities but no food. The remaining funding is raised through donations.

While Potdar is the lone employee, his organization is working with strategic consultant and former Ottawa Community Foundation president and CEO Marco Pagani. It received a capacity-building grant from the City of Ottawa to hire marketing and branding expert Stephen McGill (McGill Buckley) and fundraising guru Melanie Adams.

Until recently, Canada was the only G7 country without a national school food program. That changed with a $1-billion, five-year federal commitment to feed up to 400,000 more children each year.

It’s still too early to say how much of a difference the funding will make, said Potdar. “We are happy that the federal government has taken the first step but we recognize that … we need to do more. We’re looking for more guidance from the province and the federal government on what the outcome will be on this new funding.”

Meanwhile, Nutrition Blocs is forging ahead. “We want to build a program that makes nutritious meals universally accessible to every child in the public school system. That would generate enough revenue to make sure families that cannot pay are still assured a healthy, nutritious meal every day,” said Potdar.

As a social enterprise, Nutrition Blocs is working with its public-private-philanthropic partnerships to achieve this goal, he added. “Supporting Nutrition Blocs helps deliver more than meals – it also delivers hope, dreams and opportunity.”

This article is made possible through sponsorship from Star Motors, WCPD, Marilyn Wilson Dream Properties, ExecHealth, Infinity Convention Centre, Altis Recruitment, Bell Canada, First Avenue Investment Counsel, RBC, Welch LLP, Brazeau Seller Law.

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