Food for thought: Lunch program for pupils’ growth

A BALLARAT initiative is fuelling pupils’ stomachs and minds.

The Healthy Lunch Kitchen has been serving meals to members of Phoenix P-12 Community College’s junior year levels for almost 12 months, and this week it was announced the Ballarat Foundation had provided $100,000 to support the service.

Shelley Bowen, chief executive officer of the program’s provider Health Futures Australia, said healthy food helped improved children’s wellbeing.

“The idea is really to look at how we can get more protein, whole grains and vegetables into children’s diets because of the health benefit and educational benefit,” she said.

“We know if children eat better at school, they concentrate better, they participate better, and that is really important for outcomes for everyone.

“And so we think it’s a, pardon the pun, but a low-hanging fruit really, to get really good nutrition happening for everyone at school.”

As meals of quiches and fresh fruit and vegetables were served up this week, Phoenix principal Karen Snibson said they were feeding lunches to years prep, one, two, five and six twice a week.

“We’re pretty excited about the number of children that we’re able to feed or to provide that healthy lunch to,” she said. “It’s just, for us, a broadening thing.”

The principal said they were working towards providing lunches to all primary year children across the week. She said the funding from Ballarat Foundation was imperative in establishing and expanding the program.

Ballarat Foundation chief executive officer Andrew Eales said he was looking forward to seeing the project’s development.

“It’s not just an implementation of a project,” he said. “It’s a whole community coming together.

“We’ve got volunteers, we’ve got not-for-profit organisations that are collaborating together to make this change.”

Grade 5/6 teacher Andy Orton said the results from the program have been clear.

“After lunchtime, we see the students that have been eating the healthy food have got more energy after lunch, and we’re getting more learning done after lunch, which has been fantastic.”

Year 6 pupils Lesinda Keirl and Jaxon Whitten both approved of the food.

“It gathers all the classmates together to have lunch and have good chats,” Jaxon said. “And it’s just yum food.”

Lesinda said the food has been nice and fresh.