News

Queensland Program launch – grants are open!

The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Queensland Program is officially under way, with the announcement of the Queensland Government's round of funding at Bulimba State School on 27 July.

The announcement was attended by special guests State Education Minister Cameron Dick, local Member for Bulimba Di Farmer, Hayley Stevenson and Kym Turner from Education Queensland and State Manager for Neutrog Jason Peoples.

Proud Bulimba SS staff included Acting Principal Sheryl Kennedy, Program Coordinator Brett Day, Kitchen Specialist Sara Breckenridge and Garden Specialist Jacqueline Newbound. And of course some very excited and proud Year 5s and 7s from the school.

The Foundation was represented by Founder Stephanie Alexander, CEO Ange Barry, Marketing & Communications Manager Annie Hayward, Schools Projects Manager Bianca Moses and Queensland Project Officer Mel Schouten.

It was a beautiful sunny day and there was a definite air of excitement at Bulimba SS about the very special visit from Minister Dick and Stephanie.

Environment captains Harry Ryder and Georgia Smith met with Stephanie and the Minister separately on arrival, before they joined together in the garden where the children escorted them through the kitchen garden, describing how they'd grown the wide range of thriving crops. Students from the Year 5 class then demonstrated how to harvest some of their school-grown produce, including daikon radish, parsley and Asian greens, while another group of students demonstrated their planting skills. Stephanie was very impressed with the garden knowledge of the children.

The guests were then shown through to the school's beautiful kitchen, where Minister Dick donned an apron and, along with Stephanie and some proud Year 5s, prepared some delicious dishes using the fresh yield. The team prepared Pumpkin, feta & rocket bruschetta, along with Amazing herb salad on tomato bruschetta. One parent volunteering on the day marvelled at how much her son loved the morning tea, as before the Program started he would never try this type of food.

Minister Dick said the Program was creating a food revolution in schools:

I want to thank Stephanie for the partnership we now have between the Queensland Government and the roll out of another 25 schools, almost $2 million will be invested this financial year and this school has been a great pilot - this shows how it works.

I want to thank all the parents and the supporters of the school who come in and help, all the way from the gentleman who comes in to turn over the compost to the mums and grandmas and the carers who come in to help in the kitchen. It's a great program ... it brings the community into the schools and great schools are made by great engagement with parents and the community.

Stephanie thanked the school and Minister Dick for his support and well wishes:

I would like to acknowledge the importance of partnerships between the Foundation and state and Federal governments. Without these partnerships, we would be unable to implement our innovative food education program in primary schools throughout Australia.

We want the Program to get bigger, to get stronger, to influence more children so that more and more kids learn to love good fresh food and to just enjoy it as part of their lives every day.

The Foundation is delighted to be partnering with the Queensland Government and we thank Premier Anna Bligh and Education Minister Cameron Dick for recognising the importance of the Kitchen Garden Program in delivering pleasurable food education to thousands of Australian primary school children.

This Government funding means 3000 more Queensland school children will be able to join the kitchen garden community, and it will double the number of Queensland primary schools running the Program.

We thank the children of Bulimba SS for showcasing such a great model of the Kitchen Garden Program - growing, harvesting, sharing and preparing the food for all their special guests. A huge thank you also goes to the staff who helped organise a very special day in the life of the Kitchen Garden Program.

We encourage Queensland primary schools to apply for a Kitchen Garden Program grant so their students can also benefit from the lifelong skills the Program is teaching Queensland school children.

Important links:

• The Foundation invites all Queensland primary schools to an Online Information Session on Wednesday 10 August, where Queensland schools can ask questions about the Program and the application process.
• Simply go to our Queensland Program page for all your application documents and the contact details of our Project Officer in Queensland, Mel Schouten.