DRIVER PRIMARY SCHOOL
DRIVER STEPHANIE ALEXANDER KITCHEN AND GARDEN PROGRAM
Students at Driver primary are getting their hands dirty and learning about GROWING, HARVESTING, PREPARING and SHARING fresh seasonal food.
Each builds invaluable knowledge and understanding of food and of the integral role it plays in our physical and social wellbeing. Each plants the seeds for a lifetime of positive eating habits and enjoyment of food. We want to bring good food into the curriculum and culture of our school; to feed the minds, bodies and futures of each and every student.
A kitchen garden is created to provide edible, aromatic and beautiful resources for a kitchen. The creation and care of a Kitchen Garden teaches children about the natural world, about it's beauty and how to care for it, how best to use the resources we have, and an appreciation for how easy it is to bring joy and wellbeing into one's life through growing, harvesting, preparing and sharing fresh, seasonal produce.
Our Kitchen Garden Program:
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We stress pleasure, flavour and texture by encouraging talk and thinking that uses all of the senses.
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We do not describe food to children using the word 'healthy' as a main descriptor.
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We reinforce techniques over and over so that children are actually able to cook simple dishes or plants seeds at home.
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Menus are planned around seasonal availability
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We seek to expand the culinary horizons for children and present cultural differences as fascinating rather than strange.
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We seek to expand the children's vocabulary for describing flavours and textures and plant families and names.
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We use fresh ingredients at their peak - for example, herbs should not be past their season, beans should not be overgrown and tough.
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The cooking of raw fruit and vegetables should be timed with great care - we don't want to present children with food that is unpalatable.
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We come together around a table at the end of the cooking to share the meal.
