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Helping empower tamariki to grow, harvest, prepare, and share great food.
Why, Garden to Table...
The Garden to Table programme aims at giving students the knowledge and skills that will have a transformative and lifelong impact on their haurora (well-being) - and on the world around them.
The programme is designed to take students out of the classroom and into the garden and kitchen.
Throughout the year, tamariki observe the changing seasons and full food cycle and how planting, harvesting and cooking change to reflect seasonality. The programme is curriculum-linked meaning tamariki are learning subjects while getting their hands dirty in the garden and kitchen.
Learning is not only for students. At Tokoroa Intermediate staff are invited to professional development classes to update and strengthen their knowledge around developing gardens.
Tamariki get stuck in and get their hands dirty, with adults acting simoly as observers and guides. Practical skills develop alongside awareness of sustainability and environmentalism.
Hard work and patience pays off with a sense of achievement and whakahi, pride for children. Produce straight from the garden provides more nutritional benefits and it tastes better too!
Students develop skills for life by cooking meals from scratch. Learning to use kitchen tools, weighing and measuring, and the science of food , all provides links to core curriculum concepts.
Everyone sits down to eat together, taking part in the age-old ritual of sharing food. Tamariki are often more adventourous about eating meals from food that they have grrown and prepared.
