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Why have a Kitchen Garden Program
Not all kids eat well. A disturbing number go to school each day without breakfast. Many others are overweight or obese. These symptoms of the busy world in which we live are likely to become habits of a lifetime for our children and lead to serious health issues in the future. The good news is that kids are as responsive to positive food experiences and encouragement as they are to television advertising for snack foods.
1 in 4 Australian children are overweight or obese*
This is the public health issue of the not-too-distant future – diabetes, heart disease, strokes, joint problems, dental decay, chronic constipation, depression – to name a few consequences of an unhealthy diet and lack of exercise. The fruit and vegetable intakes of Australian children and adolescents fall well below recommendations and have continued to decline in the past 10 years.
Overweight and obese children and adolescents face some of the same health conditions as adults, and may be particularly sensitive to the effects on their self-esteem and peer-group relationships.
At least as important as culinary deprivation is cultural deprivation. It crosses class, ethnic and income levels. ‘We may be witnessing the first generation in history that has not been required to participate in that primal rite of socialization, the family meal’.**
How has this come about?
Lifestyle
Many of us lead largely sedentary lifestyles. We eat more than we burn.
Lack of modelling at home
Children often have no model for good food consumption at home. There may not be a well-filled fruit bowl available. Their consumption of packaged, salty, sugary, fatty snack and convenience foods grows while their consumption of fresh, seasonally available food lessens.
‘Convenience’ food is too easy and is being made easier – with vending machines, 24 hour retailing and junk food outlets at every corner.
We might also ask – do most children ever really get hungry if they are consuming a snack every couple of hours?
Lack of knowledge at home
If parents don’t know how to shop for fresh, seasonal food, and don’t know how to turn this food into delicious, quickly-prepared and inexpensive family meals – and have no interest in celebrating the seasons – is it surprising that children remain ignorant of such possibilities? Just 22% of families eat together four or more times a week (The Age 31/3/08).
There are many ways in which family life has changed and even the structure of a ‘family’ is changing. Many families have abandoned eating together regularly as a family group. Similarly, solitary eating in front of television or a screen has become an accepted practice even where one does share a household with others. There are many ways in which family life has changed and even the structure of a ‘family’ seems to be changing.
The importance and power of the shared table
In many cultures, eating together around a table is the centre of family life. It is the meeting place, where thoughts are shared, ideas challenged, news is exchanged and where the participants leave the table restored in many ways. They have been valued; they have been part of a supportive group; they have possibly heard something new and different, and over the years they will get to taste lots of different things. In the Kitchen Garden Program, equal importance is given to time around the table sharing the meal that has been prepared from produce grown in the garden.
So what drives us at SAKGF?
We believe we can make a difference. We believe that introducing children to good food as early as possible is the best way to grow a food lover for life, ideally at home from birth until the child leaves home to live independently. Realistically this does not happen for a great number of children. By setting good examples and engaging the children at a primary school level we can provide them with wonderful, nutritious food experiences that form the basis for good life-long eating habits. When we lead by example and make healthy food fun, kids eat well and live well.
Our kitchen and garden specialists are facilitating learning for life – the students aren’t just learning about flavour and freshness; they are also learning about conserving natural resources, about being a responsible consumer, about being considerate of others, respecting cultural difference, and understanding that not everything happens instantly. They are acquiring real-world skills that will be there for life. And they are developing pride in achievement with a consequent rise in self-esteem.
For more information on the benefits of the Kitchen Garden Program, please see our Benefits page.
*National Preventative Health Taskforce ‘Technical Report Number 1: Obesity in Australia: A Need for Urgent Action’
** Francine du Plessix Gray, The Talk of the Town, “Starving Children”, The New Yorker, 16 October, 1995, p. 51
