Kitchen Garden Month commences, encouraging children to connect with food

September is Kitchen Garden Month – Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation’s celebration of kitchen gardens across Australia. 

 

The theme of Kitchen Garden Month is ‘Start small, dream big’, highlighting that early childhood services and schools of all sizes can get involved – in fact, a simple kitchen trolley and set of garden pots is all that’s needed.

 

For the month of September, the program will be celebrated for its role in teaching children and young people to grow, harvest, prepare and share fresh, seasonal, delicious food.

 

The program runs in over 1,000 schools and services across Australia, including early childhood, primary and secondary schools. The program is a fun, hands-on, fully developed framework which is positive and preventative, delivers wellbeing and sustainability benefits, and has proven impact beyond the school or service gate to families and communities.

 

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services who are already engaged in the program are being encouraged to amplify the impact it is having in “planting the seeds and growing a generation of young people who know the joy of getting their hands dirty in the garden, and transforming fresh produce in the kitchen.”

 

Services can share their “spring kitchen garden moments” on social media, or, for members, via Shared Table, using the hashtag #KitchenGardenMonth.

 

An information session is being held on 6 September, which will give educators, parents, site leaders and committee members an opportunity to find out how the Kitchen Garden Program can work in your setting. 

 

During September, the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation will be sharing seasonal recipes and fun competitions and celebrating the release of Stephanie Alexander’s newest book, Fresh.

 

Find out more about the heart of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation’s  philosophy, pleasurable food education, with this handy explainer.

 

For more information, visit www.kitchengardenfoundation.org.au and @kitchengarden_foundation on Instagram