Hilltops Schools Take On Food Education Program

IMAGE: Monteagle Public School enjoys hands-on learning with the OZ Harvest FEAST Program.

Monteagle, Murringo and Wombat Public Schools received funding from the Murrumbidgee Local Health District Health Promotion Team to undertake the OZ Harvest FEAST Program.

FEAST is a Year 5 and 6 food waste education program from OZ Harvest. The program is project-based learning focusing on food and sustainability that runs for 7 to 10 weeks. Teachers are able to adapt and change the program to suit the needs of their own school.

Like any good FEAST, the program is designed to be fun, engaging and filled with great ideas.

The package focuses on reducing food waste with stage 3 classrooms and includes cooking sessions.

Students will learn about the problem of food waste and food insecurity - globally and in Australia and the impact of food insecurity on people. They will also enjoy some great hands-on cooking and tips about what families can do at home.

All equipment, teacher training and support are provided. Principal of Monteagle Public School, Sarah Dabin said the program had been a great success at Monteagle Public.

“The students have loved the cooking component and engaging in conversation about food waste,” Ms Dabin said.

“Our children are now all very enthusiastic about cooking and looking at ways to use up food at home to reduce waste.”

“It has been a really positive and interactive program for our students who have definitely developed a passion for healthy cooking and preventing food waste.”

Health Promotion Officer, Barb Manwaring was very pleased three local schools were taking the lead in the area of food waste and sustainability.

“Food waste is damaging our planet and according to OZ Harvest, the average Australian wastes 312 kilograms of food a year, with one-third of all food waste coming from the home,” Ms Manwaring said.

“This is a real issue for our future in global emissions.”

“Helping to educate and notice our young learners is a great place to begin.”

Any classroom can easily implement the FEAST program, and the curriculum package uses the latest teaching and learning approaches.

The food waste program is aligned with the STEM curriculum and includes everything needed to teach it.