North Queensland farmers raising awareness of healthy eating for kids

The Bowen Gumlu Growers Association, in collaboration with Health and Wellbeing Queensland, is delivering the Pick of the Crop program in North Queensland in 2023-24.

North Queensland Pick of the Crop program co-ordinator Helena De Bortoli said Pick of the Crop was a whole-school, nutrition-based program which aimed to promote healthy food and drink choices to primary school students.

"Essentially, the stats at the moment show that less than five per cent of Aussie kids eat a sufficient number of vegetables every day," she said.

"Forty six per cent are only eating sufficient amounts of fruit and then 41 per cent of daily energy intake comes from discretionary foods (unhealthy food and drinks)."

Ms De Bortoli said the program was essentially all about boosting the intake of fruit and vegetables.

"It's basically about exposing kids to eat more fruit and veg by choosing a variety of different strategies and embedding those healthy eating behaviours early on," she said.

The program's five key components include:

- Farmer and food connections involving activities such as farm excursions,

- Food nutrition and agriculture programs such as CSIRO Taste and Learn,

- Incorporating vegetables and fruit in schools' breakfast and emergency lunch relief programs,

- Establishing orchards and/or vegetable or a bush tucker garden at schools, and improving spaces such as the tuckshop, and

- Getting parents involved with improving school lunch boxes and swapping out unhealthy foods for healthy alternatives.

Asked about what fruit and vegetables are favourites among children, Ms De Bortoli said snap peas were really popular as they were super sweet, delicious and tasted better raw than cooked.

"Kids love snacking on them - but given our region, there is so much abundant tomatoes being produced, eggplants and there's even been lots of passionfruit and strawberries so I don't think there's really been a favourite fruit per se, but it's great to see students trying a variety," she said.

Ms De Bortoli indicated she had 13 schools on board already, but would definitely be getting more schools involved in the Townsville and Hinchinbrook local government areas, targetting 39 in those areas.

In 2020, the Bowen and Burdekin region was one of several places chosen to pilot the PIck of the Crop program.