Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden

The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation exists to develop life-long healthier and happier eating habits in a new generation of Australians by engaging them in growing, harvesting, preparing and sharing delicious and healthy food at primary school.

Not all kids eat well. A disturbing number go to school each day without breakfast. Many others are overweight or obese. The program complements many aspects of the integrated school curriculum. Through building and nurturing their own vegetable garden, growing and harvesting the produce and cooking and sharing a meal together the children gain deep knowledge about where food comes from.

This is real scrape-the-bowl and dirt-under-the-fingernails learning and the kids love it.

Children participating in the Kitchen Garden experience a pleasurable and positive learning environment, in which they

  • learn new skills both in the kitchen and the garden,
  • experience new flavours and broaden their knowledge,
  • address many health issues, 
  • experience new, culturally enriching ideas and practices,
  • and build a strong connection to the land.  

The students model the new ideas, skills and behaviours as they learn them, automatically reinforcing these concepts.

About the Need

The following facts support Stephanie's concerns regarding children. The Kitchen Garden can help in reversing these trends, and help children love food, from its cultivation in the garden to its production in the kitchen.

  • The most prevalent child health issues affecting children today are obesity, dental disease, emotional and behavioural problems, bullying and learning delays.
  • Of the 30,000 television advertisements children watch on average a year, 12,000 are for food.  75 - 80 % of those foods advertised have marginal or low nutritional value.
  • Around 30% of Australian children are currently estimated to be overweight or obese. The two major contributors to this problem are poor dietary habits and inadequate levels of physical activity.
  • Children's fruit and vegetable consumption has decreased over the past 20 years while consumption of energy-dense foods (including sweet soft-drinks and snack bars with a high sugar content) has increased.
  • Children's physically active time has also decreased, while time spent in sedentary activities such as television watching and computer games has increased.
  • Obesity is a precursor to heart disease, respiratory problems, diabetes, joint and kidney problems and other chronic illnesses.
  • Up to 50% of the kilojoules ingested by every child takes place at school.
  • Changing family structures and other lifestyle changes result in fewer families eating together on a regular basis.  Meals are being prepared at different times leading to the use of snack and convenience foods.  Solitary eating also has significant implications for social development.