What is the Stephanie Alexander Foundation?

The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation (SAKGF) exists to develop happy and healthy life-long eating habits in a new generation of Australians by engaging them in growing, harvesting, preparing and sharing delicious and healthy food at primary school.

This Kitchen Garden Program has been developed by world renowned chef and writer, Stephanie Alexander.

How it works

In the Kitchen Garden Program children from Grades 3 to 6 spend 45 minutes once a week in an extensive vegetable garden which they have helped design, build and maintain on the school grounds according to organic gardening principles. They also spend 1½ hours each week in a kitchen classroom preparing and sharing a wonderful variety of meals created from their produce. Specialist staff; a Garden Specialist and a Kitchen Specialist, run these sessions.
In both the kitchen and the garden the children work together in small groups with the assistance of community volunteers. The finished dishes are arranged with pride and care on tables set with flowers from the garden, and the shared meal is a time for students, helpers, teachers and specialists to enjoy each other’s company and conversation.

They learn that new experiences can be rewarding, and their self esteem, confidence and sense of achievement is enhanced as they learn to work cooperatively, share resources, respect each other, see teachers in a different learning environment, gain enjoyment and have fun working in the garden and kitchen.

The children:

• expend physical energy working in the garden
• learn new language to describe foods, plants, textures and     
flavours
• use maths to measure and weigh
• discover the pleasure of the shared table
• learn to work as part of a team
• develop greater self confidence
• gain awareness of cultural differences
• develop awareness of the environment and plant diversity
• develop the skills to prepare a three course meal
• learn time management and organisational skills

So good are these experiences that the students are motivated by the pleasures of good food, and develop an appreciation for rituals and tastes that will last a lifetime. There are two unique factors about the Kitchen Garden Program. The first is the intrinsic link between the garden, the kitchen and the table. The emphasis is on learning about food and about eating it. No part of the Program can exist without the other. The second factor is that the Program is embedded in the curriculum.