Children from regional schools will get a chance to participate in the programme
Costa Group’s new partnership with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation with see ten regional schools in communities across Australia join the programme for the first time.
These schools are amongst the first to receive support through our three-year partnership, which will see a total of 30 schools or early childhood services welcomed into the kitchen garden community across Australia.
Costa chief executive Marc Werner said one of the most important things Costa can do is contribute to improved health and wellbeing which reduces the incidence of chronic disease and morbidity.
“We know that an effective way to do this is through educating children about the benefits of eating a balanced and nutritional diet, which includes regular serves of fresh fruit and vegetables, and we are delighted to be teaming up with the Foundation to support schools in our local communities,” he said.
Each of the schools and services will be based in a community where Costa has farms to foster connections between education, agriculture, the company’s workforce and the community.
Guyra Central School in New South Wales is in the first group ten schools joining and said “Providing hands on gardening and cooking experiences will not only help develop an understanding of plants and nutrition but also provide a safe calming space to nurture student wellbeing”.
Each sponsored site will receive a two-year membership to the Kitchen Garden Program, providing the knowledge, support and inspiration to these educators so they can empower children and young people to develop lifelong skills in growing, harvesting, preparing and sharing fresh, seasonal food.
An infrastructure grant has also been provided to support their kitchen garden activities. This budget might go towards repairing or building garden beds, purchasing new cooking equipment or adding a compost system or irrigation.
