Local support for Victorian pleasurable food education

Many Victorian community bodies are leading the charge to bring positive food habits to their local area. Aware of the many benefits of running a kitchen garden program, councils, shires and health services are planting the first seed in their local schools and learning centres.

With support from the Municipal Association of Victoria, the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation has been liaising with local government and community health network representatives who recognise the Victorian Pleasurable Food Education Package as a clever and cost-effective way to achieve their objectives.

With broad goals such as sustainability, environment protection, and health promotion, these representatives have been quick to get on board and take advantage of the Victorian Pleasurable Food Education Package, a heavily subsidised package of professional development, educational resources and support launched in September 2016.

Representatives from Brimbank City Council in Melbourne’s west are financially supporting five local primary schools with subscriptions to the Package. The five schools and a Council representative attended a special professional development workshop, which provided the ideal first step to establishing a strong connected network of kitchen garden schools in this area. Brimbank Council is committed to providing ongoing support to these schools, increasing the likelihood of real and long-term change being delivered in this community.

The City of Whitehorse took a similar approach, financially supporting a mix of 15 early years learning centres and primary schools to take up the Package. This number booked out an entire training workshop, again offering a unique opportunity to bring together the educators in this local area and foster a community of knowledge that can share learnings as it grows.

Both regional and metropolitan local community organisations have seen the benefits of the Package and provided valuable support to schools and centres in their area. Bass Coast Shire Council, Mitchell Shire Council, City of Melton, City of Whittlesea, Latrobe Community Health Service, Whitehorse Pre-School Association and Warrnambool City Council have all jumped on board and lent a hand to schools in their districts.

In some cases, schools and centres have received financial assistance, which has helped them sign up for the Package and get started. In other instances, local community bodies have rallied to provide much-needed promotional assistance to help the Foundation spread the word about pleasurable food education.

Just over six months in, the Victorian Pleasurable Food Education Package is still very new but the response has been overwhelming with over half of the Packages – which have been made available with support from the Victorian Department of Education and Training – already taken up.  

Interested in getting involved? The Foundation is keen to discuss options for how local governments can best get on board. Contact us at support@kitchengardenfoundation.org.au or 13000 SAKGF (13000 72543) to start the conversation.