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About the Program
Watch the State of Design Awards video and find out why the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program was selected for the prestigious Victorian Premier's Design Awards in 2010.
Pleasurable food education – skills for learning, skills for life
The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation is growing a food revolution from the ground up!
We are changing the way children approach and think about food. All around the country, children are enthusiastically getting their hands dirty and learning how to grow, harvest, prepare and share fresh, seasonal food.
The fundamental philosophy that underpins the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program is that by setting good examples and engaging children’s curiosity, as well as their energy and their taste buds, we can provide positive and memorable food experiences that will form the basis of positive lifelong eating habits.
The revolution rumbled into action in 2001, when renowned cook and food writer Stephanie Alexander OAM joined forces with an inner-Melbourne school community to establish the Kitchen Garden Program at Collingwood College. Stephanie’s pioneering approach to food education is now flourishing in many schools, through the support of Australian national and state government funding.
Kitchen Garden Schools commit to a dynamic and innovative model that sees kitchen and garden classes run weekly, enabling skills-based learning that extends across the entire school curriculum.
As participants in the Kitchen Garden Program, eight to twelve year-old children spend time in a productive veggie garden and home-style kitchen each and every week. There they learn skills that will last them a lifetime, and discover just how much fun it is to grow and cook their own seasonal vegetables and fruits.
The diversity of locations of Kitchen Garden Schools – from Coober Pedy in the outback, to Alawa in the tropics, to beachside Bondi – means that each school community has its own challenges and successes. But all are united in their passion to bring the benefits of food education to their students.
'This is real scrape-the-bowl and
dirt-under-the-fingernails learning
and the kids love it!'
Collaborating for our kids
The Kitchen Garden Program is made possible by the generosity, shared vision and commitment of schools, governments, organisations and individuals. Three significant government collaborations have enabled the introduction of the Program in 266 schools to date.
National Program
The Australian Government has provided $12.8 million of infrastructure funding over four years from 2008-2012, to enable up to 190 eligible Australian schools to establish the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden National Program.
Queensland Program
In 2011 the Queensland State Government announced almost $2 million to help implement the Kitchen Garden Program in 24 Queensland government schools with primary enrolments. These grants represent part-funding for the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Queensland Program schools, with schools expected to contribute the balance from their own resources and community networks.
Victorian Program
The Kitchen Garden Foundation established 60 new school projects in partnership with the Victorian State Government over the 2005 to 2010 funding period.
The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Victorian Program has provided $2.5 million in funding for the rollout of the Kitchen Garden Program into Victorian government schools with primary enrolments.
Each successful school received a grant of $62,500 over two years, with $12,500 apportioned towards building a kitchen and garden, and $25,000 per year towards staffing the Program. These grants represent part-funding for the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Victorian Program schools, with schools expected to contribute the balance from their own resources and community networks.
By 2012, over 250 schools around Australia will be Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Schools, with around 20,000 children actively engaged in the Kitchen Garden Program each year. Now, that’s a revolution!