This school found that Pick of the Crop had not only changed attitudes towards trying vegetables and fruit, but also in re-engaging students with learning.
“Pick of the Crop and the garden gives kids a chance to be successful at school in other ways, which I think is the most important change we have seen at our school.”
Everyone benefits
“At our school, Pick of the Crop is delivered through the health and physical education (HPE) curriculum with all seven year levels in the school.”
Pride in the school garden
“We have implemented a school garden – which has helped expose kids to the understanding that food comes from the ground and the garden and not from
packets, and helped build the connections that plants need certain things to grow and so too, kids need certain foods to grow.”
“Kids can see with the gardens that ‘this is our space’ and they have a kind of ownership and sense of agency with the garden, a sense of ‘it’s ours and we
have worked hard at it and we can watch things grow and we can eat them’. The garden also helps teach kids patience, resilience and dedication.”
“With the prep classroom garden, at the start of the year kids were like ‘eww, it’s disgusting’ but we just kept offering tomatoes on crackers and recently we
harvested our cherry tomatoes crops and more and more kids are willing to have a go. Now every day eight or so kids come up to the prep teacher and ask if they can go get lettuce from the garden to put on their sandwich.”
Impacts
“As a result of Pick of the Crop, I have noticed an increase in kids’ willingness to try different vegetables and fruit.”
“One of the kids in the Year 5 class, who has a difficult time engaging with school and would often turn up without a lunch, is one of the ones who I saw really engage with the Pick of the Crop activities. He came into school recently with cucumbers he had grown, and he had them for lunch! You could see he was really proud of himself!”
Summary
“As a result of the Pick of the Crop activities, I have seen more kids engage and feel pride in what they are doing. I think this is the most important change.”