By Ethan Benedicto
With cream of vegetable soup, salads from coleslaw, beetroot carpaccio, herb focaccia and carrot and zucchini fritters, it didn’t take long for the aroma of a hearty and nutritious meal to fill the kitchen at Hallam Primary.
On the morning of Monday 16 December, children from as young as seven took the mantle of chefs, guided not just by elder students, but by the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation and VicHealth, who announced a $2.7 million partnership.
With the funds set to be invested throughout the next three years, the partnership aims to give children at more than 500 Victorian schools, such as Hallam Primary, the learning foundations of fresh and healthy food.
Stephanie Alexander, the founder of the not-for-profit was present during the event, and while 20-plus years into the path, remained filled with love and purpose as she guided the younger cooks.
“Well we think it’s absolutely central to living a good life,” she said.
“What we are showing is that even very young children are capable of enjoying these tasks, developing real skills, but also finding out all sorts of things that they’ve not experienced before – and they love it!
“I mean, it’s pleasurable, the fact that it’s hands-on, that they enjoy it and so they want to keep doing it, it’s creating a habit of life really.”
The Kitchen Gardening Program will see the $2.7 million spread out to 60 grants – 30 per year – allocated to schools between 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 financial years.
Focusing on schools in communities that need it the most, this grant will help cover the costs of a small-scale kitchen and garden equipment and or infrastructure, as well as membership for the program.
VicHealth CEO, Sandro Demaio, said that these kinds of partnerships are essential, echoing Alexander’s goals of educating through the act of cooking, and nurturing love for it through a form of creation through the children’s own hands.
“I’m incredibly proud, for more than 20 years Stephanie and her team have been doing amazing work and a program that is now national and internationally recognised has come out of Victoria,” he said.
“It’s that partnership with VicHealth and this program, to continue to provide this connection to food and growing it, enjoying food and for kids across more than 400 schools participating, it’s a huge privilege.
“It’s important to know that the earlier you connect kids with food and cooking, understanding where it comes from, understanding how to prepare it, to share it and enjoy it, they’re going to get health benefits right across their lives.”
The foundation’s CEO, Cathy Wilkinson said that really, “It’s about connecting heads, hearts and hands so that children have those practical skills for life”.
“It’s the joy of watching someone grow in the garden, the understanding of how you prepare it in the kitchen and then being able to bring that together in an incredible dish that they share.
“This partnership for us is significant, we’re aligned in values such as that focus on preventative health, the focus on protecting children from commercial detriments of health, and improving the resilience of our food systems,” she said.
Hallam Primary’s learning specialist, Louisa Carey has overlooked the program in the school for over 10 years, and during that time the way the children move around the kitchen and create their masterpieces never ceases to amaze her.
“It’s an amazing program, it really provides a lot of hands-on and authentic learning opportunities for the kids and what they’re doing in class,” she said.
“They come into the kitchen, they’re learning about procedural text, reading and writing recipes, learning about weighing and measuring.
“Then in the garden, they’re learning about plants’ life cycles, but they also make the connection of how food is actually grown, it’s not just in the shop,” she said.
For both Cathy and Stephanie, it’s about nurturing that understanding of food, sustainability and health at a young age, but they can’t help but fall in love with the work that they do and the smiles they see on the children’s faces.
“I feel very proud and I am still amazed at how competent these little kids are and how much enjoyment they have and the focus they have on what they’re doing,” Stephanie said.
For Cathy, these events just “fill your heart and soul”.
“Seeing kids engage in such positive activities, it’s really very special, very meaningful,” she said.
