Australian Organic continues quest for education and joins PIEFA
Australian Organic is thrilled to be furthering its commitment to education by announcing their membership with the Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia (PIEFA). The not for profit group is the leading organisation promoting food and fibre education to schools and students.
PIEFA’s aim is to engage and inform students, teachers and the broader community about the role and importance of primary industries in the Australian economy, environment and wider community. Additionally, they highlight the many varied career opportunities available through primary industries and along the supply chain of food and fibre products.
“We’re very pleased to be partnering with PIEFA on the back of our successful Australian Organic Schools Program as both organisations have very similar interests and values,” said Australian Organic General Manager Niki Ford. “Educating children about organic produce has long been one of Australian Organic’s major responsibilities and we will continue to do so with great enthusiasm.”
PIEFA’s website Primezone provides teachers, parents and students, with an Australian Curriculum driven range of high quality vetted primary industries education resources from Foundation to Year 12. The Federal Department of Education has also partnered with PIEFA to implement the program Agriculture in Education. Primezone partner schools will each receive $10,000 to support the program as well as PIEFA’s Food and Fibre education program.
The Australian Organic Schools Program, which has been running for several years, provides free online resources to teachers and parents to teach kids the importance of healthy eating, how plants grow, and how to look after the environment in a fun, easy to understand manner with lots of engaging activities. The program has been very popular, thanks in part to committed past ambassadors, Costa Georgiadis from Gardening Australia and Therese Kerr co-founder of Divine by Therese Kerr.
Teachers and students can log onto the Australian Organic Schools Program to access curriculum-aligned resources such as Your School Garden, Organic for body and brain, From the farm to me, and case studies about organic farms, producers, and other school participants.
Parents can also learn lots of valuable things about organics and encourage their children to take a healthy interest in the subject, learn more about the environment and sustainability and help them understand where their food comes from. They can also learn how to encourage their kids to try new flavours, tastes and textures often an uphill battle for most mums and dads!
One school which has got a lot out of the Australian Organic Schools Program is Sydney’s Coogee Public School who established their own organic garden. They said, “One of the most important things to the school has been demonstrating to kids who live in urban areas that our location does not restrict us in growing our own produce. Matching what we grow in the garden with the canteen is a really nice connection and keeps everything happening in the school.”
Visit www.organicschools.com.au and www.primezone.edu.au for more information.
