Help students grow a healthy lunch

From planting vegetables to preparing and cooking food, children are inspired to grow their own lunches thanks to an involvement in school gardens.

For almost 20 years, the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program has encouraged kids around Australia to harvest and cook nutritious food from the vegetables they have grown themselves at school. There are now more than 1500 schools and services that are part of the kitchen garden family.

“The program promotes pleasurable food education, believing that for change to happen, it has to be experienced as a pleasure, not a chore or a punishment,” Alexander, inset, says.

“Participating schools and services create a garden to grow edible crops, set up a space where the plants can be prepared and cooked, and an attractive table or tables where students can taste and share what they have made.”

Getting young hands dirty planting food is a natural mood booster, and a great way to get children to learn about healthy options.

SCHOOL LUNCH IS CHILD’S PLAY

Some of Alexander’s top kids’ lunch box meals include grated carrot (tossed with sultanas) dressed with lemon juice and olive oil, celery sticks dipped with cucumber tzatziki and cherry tomatoes wrapped in a basil leaf.

“We are all starting 2022 with h high hopes and I know that many ny lunch boxes will reflect the interest students have taken in discovering fresh and healthy foods, whether they’ve been grown in the school kitchen garden, at home or selected at a local store,” Alexander says.

SOWING HEALTHY HABITS

S

Kids who grow food have a better er appreciation of where food comes mes from.

“Rather than going through life thinking food comes from the supermarket, growing their own means they get to appreciate that food doesn’t come pre-packaged all the time,” naturopath and nutritionist Madeline Calfas says.

“The other benefit is the sense of pride in playing a role in creating something that can ca be harvested and put into their lunch box or served on the family fam dinner table.”

Endeavour Sports High School Sch Caringbah students are growing gro their minds as well as healthy hea food in their garden. They The grow zucchini, lettuce, lemons, lemon tomatoes, carrots, watermelon waterm and strawberries.

“Our edible ed garden is educating students about how ho food is grown and the challenges that must be overcome to do so,” the school’s principal James Kozlowski says. “Once the food is picked it is used in recipes cooked by our students in their Food Technology classes. Kids love it and, as evidenced by their responses to our social media posts, the parents think it is fantastic.”