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Minister for Health Jill Hennessy visited Altona P-9 College with chef and food educator Stephanie Alexander to congratulate the teachers and students on being one of the 100 Victorian schools awarded a grant as part of the Playground to Plate program.

The program delivers $500,000 to help schools improve or establish a kitchen garden based on the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden philosophy.

Kitchen gardens encourage kids to get involved with growing, harvesting, preparing and sharing fresh, seasonal, delicious food and improve the overall health and wellbeing of the school community.

Altona P-9 College plans to use the grant to install a greenhouse on the grounds to make the school’s garden program more sustainable into the future. Excess seedlings germinated from the school’s greenhouse will then be made available to the local community, allowing them to grow their own produce at home.

Schools in Brimbank, Casey, Darebin, Frankston, Greater Dandenong, Hobsons Bay, Hume, Maribyrnong, Melton, Moreland, Whittlesea, Wyndham, Ararat, Central Goldfields, East Gippsland, Gannawarra, Hindmarsh, Latrobe, Mildura, Moira, Northern Grampians and Swan Hill were successful recipients of this year’s grants.

Grants can be used to build gardens or buy gardening tools and kitchen equipment to cook healthy and delicious meals, supporting schools to work towards the health priorities in the Labor Government’s Achievement Program.

The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation will support successful schools with their kitchen garden programs, and help them use programs like these to promote health and wellbeing across all children in Victoria.