A recent community event celebrated School Food Security Awards and leadership in community food initiatives.
The Goulburn Valley Food Cooperative ‘s food security event was combined with the launch of the Australian Grown Food Company’s first locally made pasta and sauce range. It was the culmination of much hard work and inspiration in the Goulburn Valley region. Why is this noteworthy? Because the response of the local community of Girgarre, faced with the impact of Heinz closing their tomato sauce production in the region created the potential for rural catastrophe. The fact that champions emerged to consider and develop an approach to turn disaster into opportunity speaks to the spirit and creative leadership abilities of those who did so.
So on a stormy day the Kyabram event saw people attend from far and wide. Speaking at the School Food Security Awards part of the program I noted how society is now facing serious issues in planning for the future of food production and distribution in Australia. The ability of the community to access healthy and nutritious food into the future requires a strategy that places the community at the centre of deciding what food we want produced and where and how we want it produced.
The question that is asked to assess food security is ‘Have you run out of food or the money to buy it in the last 12 months?’ but it doesn’t address the quality of food that we need to thrive. In Victoria around 6% of people say yes to this question and it is higher in regional areas.
The situation in the Goulburn Valley has highlighted how important food growing and manufacturing is to regional communities. The Australian Government has a new National Food Plan that wants us to be the food bowl of Asia, but it says little about the opportunities for youth to be part of the careers of the future in food production. However there is huge potential in regional communities for those career choices.
There are already challenges for our younger generation with low rates of fruit and vegetable intake, a rapidly escalating obesity rate and rocketing incidence of type 2 diabetes and allergies. But the exciting thing is that once more people are rediscovering an interest in food growing and this is occurring across many different groups in the community. One of the largest groups is the younger generation. Kids are starting to learn about food growing in school gardens thanks to leaders like Alice Waters in the US, Jamie Oliver in the UK and Stephanie Alexander in Australia.
At a government level here there is support for programs such as the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program and Healthy Communities Initiatives such as Healthy Together Bendigo that includes a focus on supporting schools. There are currently 24 schools and early childhood centres in Bendigo that have some form of food growing activity, and that is but one regional community. Programs such as the Edible Classrooms program plus lots of smaller school based efforts all revolve around the principle of grow, pick and eat.
We know that when people grow their own food they increase their intake of fruit and vegetables and that is very important in promoting health and preventing illness later in life.
When food literacy is taught as a life skill in schools the ability to plan, grow, shop and cook food increases and we see more resilient and healthy adults which can only be a good thing for the future of our communities.
The Kyabram event showcased the ten successful schools and their projects to be funded, including: Numurkah Secondary college, Mansfield Secondary College, McGuire College Shepparton, St Augustine’s College Kyabram, St Mary’s Primary School Rushworth, Wilmot Road Primary School, Lancaster Primary School, Murchison Primary School, Undera Primary School and Verney Road School Shepparton.
We heard from students of plans for state of the art commercial kitchen centres, food security education projects, a Vegie Patch to Dinner Plate program, a Food Revolution including permaculture, low food miles and ethical food choices, a food science kitchen, school garden establishment, including chooks and orchards and bush tucker gardens, the Undera master chef event, creation of gardener starter kits, and breakfast, kitchen garden, cooking and harvest day celebrations planned. There was even a presentation on the history of scarecrows! The pride, enthusiasm and excitement of the kids presenting their ideas and projects was something to behold. With this sort of activity the food system may be in good hands in the future.
The lucky schools who received grants to assist them on the path to food security are creating history in the Goulburn Valley region and the Goulburn Valley Food Coop is showing tremendous vision and leadership in encouraging such an inspiring range of school based projects. It’s also an opportunity for all of the schools to keep communicating their successes and create a regional success story that can provide inspiration to others. Perhaps a virtual regional schools food hub could be one outcome?
