Kiwi Charity Recognised as One of the World’s Most Inspiring

Kiwi success story, Garden to Table, has been handpicked by global food group, Food Tank, as one of the world’s most innovative and inspiring organisations.

Garden to Table is the only programme from New Zealand to be recognised in such a way, and joins 18 other cutting edge programs from around the world.

Food Tank made special mention of the programme’s proven ability to make “a demonstrated difference in child health, school attendance rates, food security… in many communities.”

The Garden to Table program began in 2009 with just three Auckland-based schools participating. Now, more than 76 schools nationwide are involved in the program, with close to 5000 children empowered to make healthy food choices through a curriculum integrated programme that teaches cooking and provides strong educational achievement benefits.

Food Tank formulated the list as part of the company’s celebration of Farm to School Month, a US wide celebration of the unique and special relationships between schools, farmers, and locally and regionally produced food.

The Farm to School Network has grown from a handful of American schools in the 1990s to approximately 42,000 across all 50 states, and growing.

Food Tank’s vision is to build a global community for safe, healthy, nourished eaters. It aims to educate, inspire, advocate, and create change. Food Tank spotlights and supports environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable ways of alleviating hunger, obesity, and poverty and creates networks of people, organisations and content to push for food system change.

Garden to Table aims to build skills through practical hands-on child centric classes, focussing not just on growing and cooking food, but also building awareness of the environment, healthy eating and community connectedness.

In addition to Garden to Table, Food Tank also identified two programmes from Africa, five from Europe, seven from North America, two from South America, and two from Oceania.

Further details of the programmes can be found here.

The Garden to Table Trust is a charity focused on food education and literacy. It works by building life skills through practical hands-on, child-centric classes, which are linked to the school curriculum. It teaches children how to grow and prepare food and encourages the eating of fresh food. It has achieved success in engaging with schools, parents and communities to build awareness of individual and collective environmental responsibility. Garden to Table schools work with primary and intermediate school children in a productive vegetable garden and home-style kitchen every week.