by For 11-year-old Pauline Meal, eating fresh fruit and veggies is something of a comfort.
School year 6 student Yipirinya said her family “sometimes” bought fresh produce, because it was too expensive.
“It’s a big family, that’s why,” she said.
Pauline is among several students learning about nutrition and how to grow fruit and vegetables as part of a program to increase access to affordable fresh produce in Aboriginal communities.
Teacher Oliver Tuau said that many families in the school could not afford to buy fresh produce.
“If you go into the supermarkets, families want to get all these vegetables, but it could be a huge cost,” he said.
“But when the students get an idea of how easy it is to grow their own vegetables and flowers, and all that stuff, they get a little more excited and we’re getting a little more involved .”
Edible solution
The EON Foundation builds edible gardens in schools and remote Aboriginal communities and uses them to teach health and nutrition to reduce preventable and chronic diseases.
The foundation was established in 2005 in response to a Telethon Institute for Child Health Research investigation into Aboriginal child health in WA.
He has run the program in the Northern Territory Premier Division for the past few years, but this is the first time the program has been offered in the Southern Territory, at Yipirinya School and the community of Ampilatwatja, about 300 kilometers north-east of Alice Springs .
Cardiovascular disease is the single biggest cause of death among Indigenous Australians, accounting for 30 per cent of all deaths, and Northern Territory operations manager Donna Donzow said diabetes rates are among the highest in the world Central Australia.
“Ampilatwatja, that’s a community of 500 people, with more than 50 percent of those with diabetes,” she said.
“The Yipirinya School serves 17 town camps around Alice Springs, and even though they live in Alice Springs, they still have the same food ailments, diabetes, heart disease, middle ear infections – all through poor nutrition.”
Food too expensive and not fresh
Ms Donzow said products in remote community shops were often of low quality, as delivery could take up to two weeks.
“The nutritional content of it [fruit and vegetables] low. The cost is high,” she said.
“If there are people living in your house, and on average there are between 10 and 20 people living there in an Aboriginal house, it is through the roof that everyone is protected and fed.
“So it’s a high-carb diet that is fed because processed foods are much cheaper than fresh produce.”
In Ampilatwatja, a pack of four kiwifruit costs $5.70, but large supermarkets sell the same amount online for $4 or less.
A pack of stew with brown onion, two potatoes, a quarter of broccoli and pumpkin is $8.80 at Ampilatwatja, and a similar product can be bought online for less than $5.
Fresh produce is generally cheaper in Alice Springs than in remote communities, but generally still more expensive than in metro areas.
For Yipirinya year 6 student Norman Wilson, this means his family rarely buy fruit and vegetables.
“We will not eat it [vegetables] if we are not in school … we only eat meat,” he said.
“If you’re at home and you don’t eat vegetables, you won’t be healthy.”
Funds needed to expand the program
Mr Tuau said the nutrition program should be expanded.
“It would be invaluable if it were across the remote communities of Australia,” he said.
Ms Donzow said 40 schools in the Northern Territory and Western Australia were currently on a waiting list for the program.
She said the foundation would love to expand the program, but it would cost about $150,000 a year.
“We’re out fundraising and trying to get money to continue the programming,” she said.
Twelve-year-old Nigella Scrutton sees the long-term benefits of students learning to grow their own food.
” they [families] They won’t have to buy vegetables anymore, because they will be growing in their backyard.”
