A program helping school communities learn about growing, accessing and preparing healthy food is teaching lifelong healthy habits – and fuelling young minds in the classroom.

The State Government is supporting more than 100 public schools and preschools to deliver projects tackling food security in disadvantaged areas and easing cost-of-living pressures on families.

Nearly $300,000 has been shared among 105 recipients, with priority given to the state’s most disadvantaged schools and preschools following strong demand.

Projects supported include growing school community gardens, purchasing kitchen equipment, healthy lunchbox workshops, and parent and student cooking classes.

Recipients across the program’s two categories comprise:

• 38 Food Security grants up to $8,000 to build students’ skills and knowledge in healthy food preparation and promote access to healthy food.
• 67 Growing Healthy Foods grants up to $2,000 to create, maintain or expand kitchen gardens with fresh fruit and vegetables.

Alberton Primary School received $7,500 in support to use seasonal produce – grown in the school’s established kitchen garden – to buy new equipment and cook and prepare cultural foods for their school community.

Principal Dan Jarrad said the team leading Alberton Primary’s Life Science program provide the highest quality educational experience for students and bring the key principles of ‘plant to plate’ to life.

“The children love harvesting from our garden and then engaging in the cooking experience,” Mr Jarrad said.

“Between harvesting our olives to make our own olive oil, breeding our Purple Spotted Gudgeons or picking the ingredients for our Outdoor Cinema and Pizza Nights – our students have so many opportunities to see environmental sustainability in action.”

“With such a diverse cultural representation across our school, we know how food can bring people together, expanding our knowledge and appreciation of different cultures.”

The Food Security and Growing Healthy Foods initiative is a key part of the State Government’s $6.51 million investment to ensure children have access to healthy food – improving learning outcomes and helping families make healthy food choices.

Total funding includes a $5.1 million school breakfast program, providing free breakfasts at hundreds of schools across the state each year and ensuring no child who needs breakfast is turned away.

Click here for a full list of Food Security and Growing Healthy Foods program recipients.