NEW DELHI: Stephanie Alexander, one of Australia’s best-known celebrity cooks and a pioneer in challenging the eating habits of children. Her belief lies in the philosophy that there is no special food for children. Alexander has initiated a programme in schools in Australia that is helping teach young children to eat healthy food. This was in response to what we often hear about children making bad food choices.
“What was missing in all these conversations in schools is a programme about the benefits of fresh food that was enjoyable for the children, rather than people telling them what is bad and what is good,” says the alumni of University of Melbourne, Australia, as she comfortably sits with her book Kitchen Garden Cooking with Kids in front of her at the Shangri-La Hotel, Delhi.
In 2001, Alexander started with a pilot programme in a school in Australia and the success was huge. Today, around 2,000 schools have included the programme which allows children to experience the very things that made her childhood so rich – the harvesting, cooking and sharing of good food. Her book Kitchen Garden..., tells the story of the pilot programme, establishing a garden in the school with 120 recipes, one for every week of the school.
“It isn’t seen as an after school programme but as being educationally relevant that teaches about sustainability, how to look after a garden, and acquiring specific skills in a kitchen. Most importantly, it introduces the kids to flavours that they’ve not experienced before, making them experimental about food. Once a week, they sit around a table in a school and eat what they’ve made. So, they have grown it, picked it, cooked it and now they eat it.”
What’s even more rewarding for Alexander is how many children tell her that these classes are the ones they often look forward in the school. “Such an experimental project can fall apart without proper support and for us, it is both the parents and the students who have made it possible. In most schools, the principal is also onboard with the whole idea.”
Over the years, one of the key changes Alexander has noticed through the programme is their social behaviour. “A child, who is not academic, can be fantastic in gardening or cooking, and this makes them feel really valued. Also, the concepts that are incorporated in the garden and the kitchen can be translated into the general curriculum, like understanding the history of an ingredient and how an eggplant is cooked in different cultures. This encourages tolerance and understanding of the ethnic diversity of Australia, making the programme is inclusive.”
Asked if such an initiative can be replicated closer to home, the author of 17 influential books and hundreds of articles about food, says that all you need is a driving force. “Somebody needs to be a champion of this programme and talk about it constantly, write in newspapers and encourage representatives to look at such initiatives.”
The Australian Cooking Icon and MasterChef Australia Guest Judge was awarded an Order of Australia (OAM) in 1994 for her services to the hospitality industry and for encouraging young apprentices. In 2014, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to education through the Foundation’s schools-based learning programs that promote improved food and eating choices for children.