Related: Bendigo food hub takes root
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While their school mates write lines in the classroom, Grade 3 and 4 students at St Therese’s Primary School are just about to reap their winter harvest.
“Silverbeet, beetroot, pak choi, bok choy, herbs, lettuce...” teacher Trent McInnes listed them off.
Less than a year ago Mr McInnes and co-teacher Martina Thomson set-up the project, called ‘The Patch’ to get kids out of the classroom and teach them about healthy eating and sustainable living.
This week, they were one of 72 schools, sporting clubs, neighbourhood associations and creative groups to land a hand-up as the City of Greater Bendigo dished out more than $200,000 in community grants.
See a full list of the community groups which received grants at the bottom of this page.
The $2000 from council represents the first outside money ‘The Patch’ has seen – to date the teachers have managed to raise in excess of $20,000 from parents and fundraisers to build the steel garden beds, fill them with soil and install watering systems.
Ms Thomson said the grant money would be put towards setting up a chook shed, greenhouse, pizza oven and outdoor learning centre.
“Getting the kids outside really engages them,” Ms Thomson said.
Some of the kids that really struggle in the classroom – out here they shine,"
- Martina Thomson, teacher
And they’ve transferred that to their homes – kids who’d never thought they’d have a veggie patch have convinced their parents to set one up.
“The parents are learning from the kids.
And while as McInnes said the idea was to show kids “how much fun they can have” with healthy living, it also enhanced their more traditional curriculum.
“We get them to use maths to calculate the amount of soil required, practice literacy with their descriptive writing, writing about how things feel and smell in the garden,” he said.
The initiative is part of growing community engagement with food production which the city and food-relief providers hope to tap into with a proposed food hub.
Councillors voted on Wednesday night to endorse plans to find a home for the hub, money to build it and an organisation to run it.
Mr McInnes said ‘The Patch’ tied in perfectly with plans to alleviate food poverty.
“This year we’re looking at growing food and making soups for Meals on Wheels,” he said.