Health tactics - kid-style

The Queensland Kids Fresh Net (QKFN) program is run by Brisbane Markets Limited as a means of promoting healthy eating to primary school children in Queensland.

This year, 735 schools registered in the program which provides a range of resources, promotional material and for schools in the south-east region, access to school-based presentations and visits to the Brisbane Produce Market.

The program focuses on teaching children, usually Grades 2, 3 and 4, about fresh fruit and vegetables, where they come from, how they are grown, and most importantly, the benefits of healthy eating. It has been very successful, particularly with the current focus on childhood obesity.

A further initiative by the Bundaberg Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (BFVG) has extended the reach of the QKFN program to schools in the Bundaberg region. The BFVG has secured funding courtesy of the federal government’s Healthy Active Australia Community and School Grants Program being conducted by the Department of Health and Aging.

BFVG will be delivering QKFN classroom presentations coupled with farm tours, so as to build a stronger understanding of healthy eating and the role that fresh produce plays in the lives of the school children, along with a better understanding of the local horticultural industry in Bundaberg.

The program will be available to 43 schools in the Bundaberg, Childers and Gin Gin areas which is one of the largest and fastest growing areas for the production of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Brisbane Markets congratulates the BFVG on this initiative and will be supporting the association with QKFN resources to ensure the success of the program which was launched in Bundaberg earlier this week.