Page 3291 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 21 August 2019
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Mr Rattenbury had some interesting comments on Ms Le Couteur’s motion and I respect that Ms Le Couteur’s comments today are very different to how the motion is read and written.
I believe that this community, our Canberra community that we all love, support and work to make a better place, should have all the choices that they believe possible: vegetarian, vegan or, in my case, carnivore options. There are many people that have food allergies and food intolerances and I think limiting our choices does not make us a stronger community. It makes us a weaker community.
MS BERRY (Ginninderra—Deputy Chief Minister, Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development, Minister for Housing and Suburban Development, Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Minister for Sport and Recreation and Minister for Women) (4.17): I thank Ms Le Couteur for bringing this motion to the Assembly today. Of course the government is committed to responding to the climate change emergency and we acknowledge the intent of this motion to modify Canberrans’ diets so that food consumption minimises the carbon footprint. These concerns are absolutely important and legitimate, but they must be balanced with affordability and the availability of plant-based protein sources.
A range of activities are already underway in schools to support healthy, sustainable food and drink choices. All public schools follow the ACT public school food and drink policy, which states that category green foods should always be on the canteen menu, and this includes fruit and vegetables. The policy promotes a consistent whole-of-school approach to the sale of healthy food and drinks in ACT public schools.
The government consults with school communities and we work with schools to ensure that resources are there to support healthy eating habits. An example of this is the fresh taste program, which is a free and optional service available to any school in the ACT to help embed a culture of healthy food and drink consumption.
Public schools are given resources, such as food&ME, to support teachers to educate students about balanced diets, as well as following the Australian guide to healthy eating. The resources also provide supports for schools to establish and build school kitchen gardens. A significant number of schools have built kitchen gardens where produce is integrated into the Australian curriculum delivery and provides students with opportunities to learn skills in the kitchen.
School communities are supported to make decisions about fruit and vegetable consumption and the obvious nutritional benefits of incorporating these foods in a student’s diet. Cultural, religious, dietary and medical requirements are considered by every public school canteen and signed off by the principal.
I support school communities to make these decisions around nutrition within the Australian guide to healthy eating, which makes sense for them. We accept students as they are. This means providing options which meet personal, cultural, religious and dietary requirements which may or may not be wholly plant based.
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