The Garden to Table food education programme was established in 2008 and is now in more than 270 primary and intermediate schools around Aotearoa New Zealand. Each week, across the country, thousands of children are getting their hands dirty and learning how to grow, harvest, prepare and share fresh, seasonal food.
Garden to Table Trust is a registered charity that supports schools to teach hands-on classes in the garden, the kitchen and the classroom. Sessions are curriculum-integrated, so they support academic learning, and provide real-world learning opportunities for life. The action-packed and fun programme is centred on growing and cooking skills, but also builds much broader awareness of individual and collective responsibility for health, well-being, and the environment.
The Jenkins Charitable Foundation has generously provided funding for Garden to Table to undertake a feasibility study into adapting its programme for Early Childhood Education.
By getting young children gardening and cooking, we are investing now in their future. This will achieve longer term health, social, economic, and environmental benefits for New Zealand children, families and communities. Imagine if children experience Garden to Table from ECE, Primary right through to Secondary Schools. This is Garden to Table’s dream, so that growing, cooking, and sharing great kai becomes a normal part of everyday life for tamariki and whānau in Aotearoa New Zealand.