GETTING children off their Playstations and out into the garden might not seem to have anything to do with saving the planet, but education experts are keen for our kids to get their hands dirty for a better future.
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Bathurst district schools are establishing kitchen gardens to teach our children that food does not only come in packets and the healthiest foods they can grow themselves.
Deputy mayor Tracey Carpenter says the knowledge they can gain from producing their own food also gives them an understanding of how the planet feeds itself and what we need to sustain ourselves.
“Important understandings given the world they will be living in faces immense population pressure and climate change on all our resources including land, water and fuel,” she said.
“With support or Bathurst Regional Council, local parents and community members many regional schools have established kitchen gardens where children experiment with growing different sorts of vegetables and fruit.”
School Garden project coordinator Jan Page said school kitchen gardens provide meaningful, hands-on learning experiences and some schools see their gardens as central to all areas of the curriculum.
Bathurst Regional Council, through its Go Green Challenge, has offered grants of up to $300 for schools and preschools within the Bathurst region for sustainability and environmental projects.
The program has been enthusiastically received by students, teachers and parents in each school community.
The program concludes in November with a display in the Bathurst City Centre for a week from Monday October 31.