I'm 8 or 9 weeks post spinal surgery today, I wasn't allowed to do any heavy work for 6 weeks, which explains a bit. But here's what I have done in the last couple of months.
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| Garlic (far end), carrots, bok choy & two types of beetroot. And I finally set the automatic watering up again. |
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| Various vegetable seedlings, two local natives (a westringia & a calistemon) free from the council via the Greenheart Fair, and my Mother's Day Aloe Vera plant. |
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| Repotted the strawberries (see them hanging underneath) with some capsicum & oregano - two pots worth. |
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| Potatoes in chook feed bags - a good use of an otherwise wasted space. |
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| I put two seed potatoes in each bag. Two different varieties, 3 bags of each. Hope it works. |
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| Sacrificed the last few passionfruit (was too cold for them to ripen anyway) and chopped the vine right back. Waiting to see if it resprouts, otherwise I'll plant another in the same area. |
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| A member of the melon family - but which one I don't know. It is self sown, so we'll just wait & see how it does, growing between the bricks & the retaining wall! |
On a separate issue - I suggested at the P&C meeting that we should try to take the Tuck Shop GM Free. I was expecting some scepticism - but got overwhelming support! Very happy. So now I have another job - as, in order to increase my chances of getting agreement, I offered to do all the research & chasing down of info. But great news don't you think?
And there is a another book review on the way. Plus I haven't completely forgotten the Organic Certification reviews (it's pretty dry reading though, so sometimes hard to face, hence the delay).
Oh - and I've joined a 'box scheme'. We are now getting most of our fruit & vege from Food Connect, which sources all the food from within 3 hours drive of Brisbane (they also operate out of Sydney). Mostly organic, though not always certified, and usually small farms I believe. This means we are eating in season, and very fresh & cutting down on food miles. Have been thrilled with the quality so far. Am also excited about the chance we get at some point to visit some of the people growing our food.
Anyway, life's pretty good, as I hope it is for you.
Best wishes
Ravs
Regarding research and chasing down of info relating to healthy school food, Morgan Spurlock provides heaps of links in his book "Don't Eat This Book" (the companion to "Super Size Me").
ReplyDeleteI haven't looked at them personally. It's from 2005 and it is American but I'm sure you'll find something interesting.
www.actionforhealthykids.org
(including "How you can take action" section)
www.cspinet.org/schoolfood
www.cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy/get_involved.html
www.choiceusa.net
www.cfpa.net
www.nojunkfood.org
www.foodstudies.org
www.edibleschoolyard.org
www.naturalovens.com
Thanks so much for all the links Will, and the book recommendation - I'll definitely have a look! I'm thinking about publishing the results I get from my research - it all helps.
DeleteGood for you with the P&C Meeting. I was listening to Radio RN on the weekend and there was a piece on school tuckshops. Apparently there is an organisation for tuckshop - kinda like a co-op so they can bulk buy their supplies. However their mission is to make tuck shops profit first because they find that if the shops don't stock the food the students want, they will just go to the local takeaway and order junk food outside of school. So best of luck with your endeavour.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kevin. I don't think out tuckshop makes much of a profit, just pleased if they don't make a loss. It's run more as a service, only two days a week.
DeleteTuckshops at primary schools here have to meet some pretty strict guidelines on what they can serve. Food is divided into 'green', 'orange' and 'red' types. We can only serve 'red' food on a couple of days a year - so no soft drinks, no lollies etc.
All our cooked or made food has to be pre-ordered before 9.15am as well. Only milk & juice drinks & milk & juice ices over the counter.
And being a primary school the kids aren't allowed to leave the premises to visit takeaways (there is a really good fish & chip shop across the road & a kebab shop but that is all), and parents still have a fair bit of control over their kids diets. I imagine that life is a bit different for high school tuck shops though.