Students at Oropi School are surprising their parents by trying unusual foods as part of the Garden to Table programme.

“Peer pressure is great like that,” laughs co-ordinator Andrea Habacht. “We grow less common veges like artichokes and red cabbage, so the kids get more adventurous and actually challenge each other. Parents often tell me that their children wouldn’t have tried different things at home.”

Oropi is one of 22 schools in the Bay benefiting from the initiative aimed at inspiring students to grow, harvest and then cook meals made from the vegetables. Last year, it received $3000 from the Western Bay of Plenty District Council matching fund to help with the manufacturing and installation of wooden trellis and steel meshed arches.

“The arches have been used for climbing plants like beans and pumpkins,” says Andrea. “They’re placed between our raised vegetable patches so that we can walk through them. They look fantastic,” she says.

Photo: John Borren/SunLive.

The kids learn where food comes from and caring for the plants and chickens that lay eggs to harvesting, preparing food and then sharing. The children are taught how to cook vegetarian dishes and even the baking often includes kūmara or pumpkin.

“What used to be such a common thing of having a vege patch in the yard is now very rare,” says Andrea. “Parents are often busy rushing a meal onto the table in the evening and don’t have the time to show their kids how to prepare the meal.

“Garden to Table is bringing in those habits that are getting lost as well as building healthy eating habits.”

Each class at the school gets five sessions per term in either the garden or the kitchen. The recipes used in class are online for families to access from home.

“I really love feedback like ‘my child now eats lettuce’ or has great knife skills or that they now want to help in the kitchen. That makes me really happy.”

Photo: John Borren/SunLive.