In Tasmania, a school lunch program is giving children a healthy diet and building relationships around the dining table. The number of schools taking part in the scheme is expected to double in the next two years.

At least once a week, the school provides students with a healthy meal and snack as part of Tasmania’s school lunch program. It encourages youngsters to try new food and develop healthy eating habits. It's really fun talking about the food and enjoying it with your friends, says a female student.

It's a way of connecting with the students over a meal, like a family connection, I suppose, at home, sharing your day, what's working well, explains Benjamin Richardson of Rokeby Primary School.

Thirty schools were already enrolled in the program last year, but 15 will join this year and another 15 in 2026.

Springfield Gardens is one of them. Improving the well-being of our students in the access to a good meal is always a benefit, says Nadine Davey of Springfield Gardens Primary School.

The school had to acquire new equipment before students came back to the premises. An industrial oven and a freezer had to be added to the kitchen. The plan is for produce grown on the school grounds to be added to future menus.

So, I saw a genuine opportunity to continue building the understanding of good foods, says Davey.

The program’s expansion will be partly financed by the close to 15 million Australian dollars (9.5 million US dollars) the Tasmanian government will provide.

The non-profit School Food Matters hopes more money will be given so that all of the state’s schools can benefit from it.

At the moment, we're only working with government schools but we know that the Catholic schools are very keen to be involved and the independent schools. It is an ambitious goal, says Julie Dunbabin of School Food Matters.

Schools cooked 190,000 lunches for more than 4,000 students last year. Healthy food will be filling even more hungry stomachs over the next few years.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.