By Mikayla van Loon
Yarra Ranges school children will soon have the opportunity to learn more about where their food comes from in a newly funded Inspiro program.
The Lilydale based community health service received just under $10,000 from VicHealth’s JumpStart grant program to get its Paddock to Plate and Waste learning materials into local schools.
Health promotion officer Tracey Higgins said Inspiro saw an opportunity in the grant program to focus on childrens’ understanding of the food system.
“The grants are aimed at getting young people to have a healthy future basically and one of the categories is to learn about their local food system and encouraging connection through food,” she said.
Knowing that less and less, young people in particular, are unaware of where their food is being grown, produced and being transported from, it seemed like an important topic to introduce to Prep to Year students.
Wanting to provide students with a basic knowledge of the food system and where it comes from, whether it be a farmer, supermarket or factory, Ms Higgins said it is about connection.
“We know food has such a big connection to family, friends, sustainability, mental health, physical health, all of those different things. It’s trying to capture all of that, that whole connection and that understanding.
“We see more and more that understanding our local food system or improving our local food system, means we are more sustainable in the long run and it’s more affordable for people.”
Having developed a 10 minute video about food security a couple of years ago, Ms Higgins said the team were looking to include the video in a school program.
“This was a really good opportunity to then expand that and just share that video to a wider audience.
“We established some lesson plans around understanding the food system based on the video and the lesson plans then culminate in the students designing a poster about their local food systems.”
Ms Higgins said by ending the students’ learning in a poster exhibition, it allows them to apply their knowledge, answer questions about where their food comes from and have discussions around healthy food habits.
Hopeful schools get involved in the program, Ms Higgins said during the September school holidays, Inspiro would like to host two or three poster exhibitions to display student work, with the tentative locations being Mooroolbark, Belgrave and Healesville.
Up to 30 classes in the Yarra Ranges will also have the chance to receive $60 in poster making materials, to help ease cost pressures of participating.
Asking schools not only in the local region but across Victoria to take up the free learning material, Ms Higgins said she would like to see the Paddock to Plate and Waste initiative go far and wide.
“We’re looking for as many [schools] as we can, anybody all around Victoria is an option because we’re just asking them to use the lesson plans,” she said.
Partnering with Yarra Ranges Council, Eastern Health and Yarra Ranges Food Connections, as well as other organisations like ECOSS and the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation, up to $3700 worth of prizes are available to students and schools.
To get in quick and register a school or class’s interest, go to www.surveymonkey.com/r/PaddockPlateWaste.
Enquiries about the program can be sent to health.promotion@inspiro.org.au
