Students Enjoy Big Veggie Crunch

Only 5 per cent of NSW kids eat enough veggies. Did you know that? Tharbogang Public School won the district prize worth $1000 to be used for resources for the school.

Natasha Long, a teacher at the school, said that the students had a great time trying a huge range of fresh fruit and vegetables.

“We had a load of fruit and vegetables donated by Broomes,” Ms Long said.

“The kids tried a lot of new fruit and vegetables.

“The dragon fruit was a big hit.”

Year 6 students tried their hands at cooking zucchini slices and veggie muffins. The school also took the opportunity to promote environmentally friendly practices.

“We conducted a rubbish audit the day before,” Ms Long said.

“On Thursday, we encouraged the children to bring nude lunches, as much as possible and carried out another rubbish audit.”

Rankins Springs Public School incorporates the ethos of the Big Veggie Crunch into their PDHPE curriculum, according to teacher Rosalind Munro.

“We do participate in the activity of all coming together to try different vegetable snacks one recess during the week,” Ms Munro said.

“It is up to the teachers if they wish to do additional activities in their classroom.

“We have a ‘Healthy Canteen’ and encourage our students to bring in healthy foods.

“Most of our kids are pretty good with what they bring in their lunch boxes.”

The school also encourages children to bring in fruit and vegetables to snack on for Crunch and Sip each day, and the teachers model behaviour by eating fruit and vegetables at break time with the children.

The Big Veggie Crunch takes place during Vegetable Week, March 28 through to April 1, and is funded by NSW Health.

Murrumbidgee Local Health District Health Promotion Coordinator, Brendan Pearson said Veggie Week aimed to garnish kids’ excitement about veggies and included a range of resources and fun educational activities designed to increase positive attitudes and enthusiasm towards eating vegetables.

“By increasing children’s knowledge about vegetables, and exposure to them, the initiative aims to encourage healthy eating habits which will carry into adulthood,” Mr Pearson said.

“Children will learn things like how bees help with pollination and about the whole lifecycle of plants, also how any food waste from plants can be put back into compost to support the growth of new plants. “Schools across the region are crunching on board.

“It’s great to see so many schools and students embracing the week and digesting the message about eating more vegetables.”

• Topics:

• Education
• Health & Wellbeing