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Travels From:
Melbourne
Fee Range: A
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Stephanie Alexander is a well-known cook, restaurateur, food writer and champion of the quality and diversity of Australian food. Opening her first restaurant in 1964, Alexander was best known for Stephanie's restaurant in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn. As a champion of the small producer, she set new standards of service and went on to write a number of books including the well-known and best selling The Cook's Companion.
Alexander has always believed that despite the surface interest in fancy food and restaurants, we are raising children and young adults with little understanding of what to do with fresh food in their daily lives. She believes that the earlier children learn about food through example and positive experiences, the better their food choices will be through life. This preoccupation led her to develop a comprehensive gardening and cooking program The Kitchen Garden program, piloted at Collingwood College in Melbourne, which is still going strongly after seven years.
Alexander's mix of practical skills, creative ability, relentless energy, and gift of the gab led to the development of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation which provides children from Years 3 to 6 to a minimum of 40 minutes a week in an extensive vegetable garden which they have helped design, build and maintain on their school grounds along with 90 minutes a week in a home style kitchen where they cook their harvested produce and sit together to enjoy what they have cooked. There are currently 27 established Kitchen Garden schools across Victoria, and a further 22 just announced to join the program in 2009. The national roll out of the kitchen garden program is underway, reaching up to 190 primary schools throughout Australia over the next four years.
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