Healthy Canteen: A success story
One school in the Parramatta Diocese that has had great success with its new healthy canteen is Sacred Heart Primary at Westmead. Sacred Heart was awarded a Federal Government grant after concerned parents began working with staff to improve the school canteen service. Ruth Cox, mother and the driving force behind the school’s healthy canteen initiative, said parents in the playground were concerned that the school canteen was mainly selling sweets and chips. “During Term 1 this year we arranged a meeting with the principal, Mrs Diane Katalinic, interested school parents and the canteen to discuss our concerns,” she said.
The meeting saw a need to identify student spending and eating habits at the school canteen and rally support for making the change to a healthier canteen. A survey of the students found 27.5 per cent skipped breakfast some school days and nearly half the student population had less than a dollar a week to spend at the canteen. Many of the students also requested hot lunches be available to them more often.
A number of Sacred Heart representatives attended a food expo to explore easily prepared healthy food options appropriate for the new canteen and, using some of these ideas, the school launched its healthy canteen program in Term 2. It now offers a breakfast menu and hot food every day.
“We were concerned that not all children could afford to buy hot food, so we have also prepared toasted cheese melts and slices of fresh bread which are available at a lower cost,” said Ruth.
Fresh fruit is donated to the school each week, and can be purchased by the students for 10 cents. They are then rewarded for their healthy food choices with stickers. Year 6 students conduct healthy lunchbox interviews with their peers, looking at food children have brought from home. Students are now eager to pack nutritious lunches in the hope they will be selected for an interview and have their healthy food choices showcased to the school community.
To help celebrate their new canteen, and to learn more about healthy eating, the students were asked to create fruit and vegetable sculptures with their families at home. These creative models utilised a wide variety of fresh fruit and veg, and were brought into school and displayed for the community.
The $1,500 Federal Government grant won by Sacred Heart will be used to purchase equipment for the canteen, including a larger freezer, milkshake maker and toasted sandwich maker.