Linking the canteen and kitchen garden at Vasse Primary School

Students at Vasse Primary in Western Australia can now enjoy the fruits of their labour during morning tea and lunchtime. The school’s kitchen garden program has teamed up with the canteen to provide fresh, seasonal produce for use in snacks and school meals.

Fiona Jennings, classroom teacher at Vasse Primary, coordinates garden activities at the school. She highlights multiple benefits to linking the program with the school canteen, including a greener, healthier menu.

“We are moving towards supplying more and more organically grown vegetables and fruit to the school canteen. This will enable the canteen to produce food using fruit and vegetables that are fresh and in season,” Fiona said.

To get more fruits and veggies to children, the canteen is creative in how it plans the use of seasonal produce.  

“Our canteen has a set menu which uses produce from the garden, as well as specials which are based on surplus produce,” Fiona said.

Menu items often include a salad, and veggie or fruit ‘sticks’ can be added to the selection.

“The canteen is also going to do some specials during the next two terms using broccoli in quiches. The spaghetti bolognaise also includes many veggies and herbs!”

The canteen, named The Hungry Magpie, is open three days a week, serving up healthy meals for morning tea and lunch.

“The garden currently provides produce free of charge to the canteen,” Fiona explains.

How has Vasse Primary transformed the canteen menu so that it’s become rich in school-grown seasonal produce? The school identified good communication, planning and community involvement as crucial to their success.

Communication is key, according to Fiona.

“The canteen manager has a good understanding of growing produce and garden practices, and visits the garden regularly to check on the progress of the plants,” Fiona said.

She noted that the canteen understands the need for flexibility, and that there will be times when produce quantities and qualities will be affected by weather, pests, etc.

Planning the menu carefully allows the canteen to make full use of the garden’s produce, minimising waste and the need to spend money buying ingredients.

“Planting charts and the seasonal planner have helped us and the canteen when deciding what to plant and when the best time for planting is,” Fiona explains.

The school makes use of the Foundation’s Kitchen Garden Program Seasonal Planner to plan and coordinate its seasonal plantings so that there’s enough harvest to meet demand. 

Educators and canteen staff are starting to involve students in the process of planning and coordinating with the canteen. Students help liaise with the canteen and determine what needs to be planted, strengthening their communication, time management, and planning skills.

Beyond the clear benefits of the gardening program on the canteen’s menu, educators notice changes in the way children approach the gardening aspect of the kitchen garden program. Fiona reflected that students are now ‘growing food for a purpose’ and show a ‘sense of pride in achieving a goal’.

She said the link between the garden and canteen has also been helpful in raising children’s awareness of where food comes from.

The school community, including parents and volunteers, has also been instrumental in helping coordinate the canteen and garden activities. 

“The canteen is staffed by a manager and an assistant, and relies on volunteers from the school community to help out,” Fiona said.

Fiona has this advice for schools that want to do the same with their gardens and canteens, but are unsure of where to start: start small, and grow. 

She reflected: “From our perspective and where we are at, I think that to be the sole provider of produce for the canteen would be a mammoth task. Our aim is to supplement the produce used by the canteen.”

Given the many benefits of linking the canteen and garden, the school’s efforts to provide healthy, organic, school-grown meals will surely prove fruitful.

• To find out how your school or centre can dig into pleasurable food education head to our Kitchen Garden Classroom membership page.
• If you are in Victoria, check out the Victorian Pleasurable Food Education Package, which is supported by the Victorian Department of Education and includes a bundle of discounted professional development, educational resources, membership and support.

Any questions? Call our friendly Support Team on 13000 SAKGF (13000 72543).