At St Arnaud Primary School we have been establishing our vegetable gardens, the school orchard, kitchen work areas, and developing the necessary work spaces and tools required to smoothly spread the program further across the school since 2017.
The purpose of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation is to introduce pleasurable food education to children during their learning years, in order to form positive food habits for life.
Pleasurable food education is ripe with learning possibilities. In the kitchen and in the garden students discover ideas and concepts first-hand, through real-life contexts and experiences. The SAKGF program is able to be fully integrated into the curriculum as it provides opportunity for literacy, numeracy, science and much more.
Students also learn life skills they can take beyond the classroom that will help them to make healthier choices into the future. The dishes cooked reflect the vegetables, herbs and fruits grown by the children in their organic gardens. The program also delivers social benefits to all children, and encourages critical thinking, teamwork, an understanding of cause and effect, and increased levels of observation.