Children learn to be resourceful through gardening
News bulletin: 24 August 2009
The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program is in the process of establishing 40 new garden projects in Victorian schools.
Twenty schools in Victoria are delivering kitchen garden classes to their students and 22 new schools will have joined the program by 2010.
Schools selected for the program receive a grant of $62,500 over two years, with $12,500 towards building a kitchen and garden, and $25,000 per year, for two years, towards staffing the program.
The program teaches children how to be resourceful and mindful of the environment through an appreciation for growing, harvesting, preparing and sharing fresh, seasonal produce.
Years 3 to 6 spend 45 minutes a week with a Garden Specialist, learning how to design, build and maintain a vegetable garden based on organic gardening principles.
One and a half hours a week is also spent in the kitchen with a Kitchen Specialist, who teaches students how to cook, prepare and present simple dishes sourced from their garden.
Menus are planned around seasonal availability and children are encouraged to touch, taste and describe the food they prepare to help expand their knowledge of plant names, textures and food flavours.
Once the cooking has been completed, children arrange the dishes and share the meals with their classmates, teachers and specialists.
Designed to work within the ‘Go for your life’ health strategy, the program achieves learning outcomes through an innovative, hands-on approach where children learn to be resourceful and respectful of the environment they tend; to appreciate the healthy food they grow; and to embrace working in teams when gardening, cooking and eating together.
The program is a compulsory part of a primary school’s curriculum and runs on a weekly basis for the last four years of a child’s schooling.
For more information on the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program, see: Kitchen Garden Foundation
For more information on ‘Go for your life’, see: Go for your life