Evidence
Evaluations of the Kitchen Garden Program
The Kitchen Garden Program supports many of the global principles for sustainable and healthy living from the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO). These include the WHO’s Health Promoting Schools approach and at least six of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The work of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation positively impacts Australian children and young people across four domains:
- Community resilience
2. Health and wellbeing
3. Learning
4. Environmental sustainability
Positive improvements to food literacy and behaviour
97%
of educators report improved gardening knowledge, confidence and skills.
92%
of educators report improved recognition of fruits and vegetables.
83%
of educators report improved willingness to try new foods.
Supporting educators to deliver on curriculum objectives
93%
of educators report that their Kitchen Garden Program supports learning in Curriculum General Capabilities including Literacy, Numeracy, Personal & Social Capability, Intercultural Understanding, Creative & Critical Thinking.
90%
of educators report that their Kitchen Garden Program supports learning in the cross-curriculum priority area of Sustainability.
89%
of educators report that their Kitchen Garden Program supports learning in Curriculum Learning Areas including English, Humanities, Health & Physical Education, Languages, Mathematics, Science, Technologies, the Arts.
Boosting social and emotional learning
97%
of educators report that the Kitchen Garden Program supports more inclusive, accessible and interactive learning environments.
93%
of educators report improved social skills.
86%
of educators report improved resilience.
Successfully engaging priority populations
100%
of educators report improved engagement students with diverse abilities.
85%
of educators report improved engagement with students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds.
80%
of educators report improved engagement with students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Results and Insights from our 2025 Impact Survey respondents
The Kitchen Garden Program has been independently evaluated by leading bodies across education, health and wellbeing, including:
- inclusion on the ACER Wellbeing Program Guide, Australia’s most comprehensive wellbeing programs guide for schools.
- recognised by ARACY for impact in all six domains of the Nest, Australia’s wellbeing framework for children and young people.
- inclusion on the Be You Programs Directory database of mental health and wellbeing programs for learning communities.
- a quality-assured program in the NSW Department of Education’s Student Wellbeing external programs catalogue in the theme of Sense of Belonging.
- endorsed on the South Australian Department for Education External Wellbeing Programs Directory.
- included on the South Australian Preschool Boost Menu of Services.
- recognised as one of the most impactful and scalable innovations in education, featured in HundrED’s 2026 Global Collection.
- inclusion on Health and Wellbeing Queensland’s Pick of the Crop Food and nutrition programs and resources list for schools.
Impact Reports
These reports highlight our impact across the Kitchen Garden Program and our community place-based projects.