In Queensland, food insecurity is made worse by geographical isolation and particularly impacts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in remote communities . It's estimated up to 31% of this demographic experiences food insecurity. Remote communities in North Queensland are twice as likely to experience food insecurity compared to communities in Brisbane. There's a range of factors that contribute to this, including weather events, adequate infrastructure and economic opportunity. 

One school in North Queensland has an initiative in place to help their community address these issues and improve the health outcomes for the children and their community. 

In 2024, Normanton State School implemented a Free Feed Friday initiative to address food insecurity issues and help improve health outcomes for their children and their community.

In this episode, we talk to Tonia, the Principal of Normanton State School, and Gillian, Tuckshop Convener of Deadly Tuckshop about how they rolled out the initiative and how successful it has been.

This podcast is proudly brought to you by the Queensland Association of School Tuckshops and funded by the Queensland Government through Health and Wellbeing Queensland.

With over one third of children’s daily energy consumed while at school, it is important that the tuckshop offers vegetarian and plant-based options that are nutritional, delicious and varied 

Planning is ESSENTIAL to ensure nutrient requirements are met when replacing animal products on your menu with suitable vegetarian or plant-based replacements. 

In this episode we talk to Keryn O'Neill, QAST Executive Officer, qualified nutritionist and former Health and Nutrition teacher, about how your tuckshop can cater for members of your school community who subscribe to vegetarian and plant-based diets.

This podcast is proudly brought to you by the Queensland Association of School Tuckshops and funded by the Queensland Government through Health and Wellbeing Queensland.

Sustainable practices in tuckshops are fast becoming a focus in Australian schools. Tackling food waste is a big priority for many tuckshop convenors and while tackling this can be overwhelming at first, there's many ways to start slow and build your way up. 

In this episode we talk to Sarah Potts, Co-Convenor from Kenmore South State School, and Natalie Farrugia, the outgoing convenor at Newmarket State School about easy steps to start making your tuckshop more sustainable.

This podcast is proudly brought to you by the Queensland Association of School Tuckshops and funded by the Queensland Government through Health and Wellbeing Queensland.

This is the tale of one tuckshop, two motivated women and many partners who joined forces to put the health of their students first to progress bold changes to the tuckshop menu.

In this episode we talk to Sabrina Mitchell, P&C President (and former tuckshop convenor) of Cannonvale State School, and Angie Kelly, Principal of Cannonvale State School.

Read the full case study and see the tuckshop menu.

This podcast is proudly brought to you by the Queensland Association of School Tuckshops and funded by the Queensland Government through Health and Wellbeing Queensland.

In this episode we talk to Projects Manager for the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation, Natasha Grogan. Natasha shares how the program works, tips for getting started, and the joy it can bring to school children. We also dive into how the school garden can cross over to the school tuckshop.

The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation provides the inspiration, information, professional development and support for educators to deliver pleasurable food education to children and young people in Australia.

Pleasurable food education is a fun, hands-on approach to teaching children and young people about fresh, seasonal, delicious food so they form positive food habits for life.

Delivered through a kitchen garden program, pleasurable food education has an array of health, wellbeing, education and community benefits.

https://www.kitchengardenfoundation.org.au/

About the guest:

Natasha Grogan is a Support and Projects Manager at the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation.  Back in 2008 and 2012, she was a SAKGF garden specialist for two primary schools in Melbourne. 

After four and a half years as a garden specialist she started her own small business, The Sage Garden, which specialised in teaching children, predominantly in the early years, to grow their own organic food. 

In 2020 Natasha returned the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation as their Early Childhood Project Officer using her experience and passion for teaching in early childhood to support and guide members through the kitchen garden program. 

In 2022 she moved into a management role leading the kitchen garden team to deliver the Program Australia-wide.

This podcast is proudly brought to you by the Queensland Association of School Tuckshops and funded by the Queensland Government through Health and Wellbeing Queensland.

Picky eating doesn’t need to be a barrier to kids enjoying food and eating well. In this episode we talk to Accredited Practising Dietitian, Deb Blakley from Kids Dig Food about how you and your children can eat happy. We touch on picky eating, how to break down barriers around it and useful strategies to deal with fussy eaters, with a focus on the school setting.

About the guest:

Deb is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and is passionate about supporting grown-ups to positively and joyfully connect or reconnect with food and eating and share this with the children in their care. 

Deb’s approach supports parents, carers, families and educators to make decisions about nutrition and health from a place of care and consideration, rather than control.

Access to the Feed Your Picky Eater [without going crazy] online, self-paced video course for parents and caregivers (Cost: $29.70): https://kidsdigfood.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/6

Proudly brought to you by the Queensland Association of School Tuckshops and funded by the Queensland Government through Health and Wellbeing Queensland. 

This podcast is proudly brought to you by the Queensland Association of School Tuckshops and funded by the Queensland Government through Health and Wellbeing Queensland.

Investing in your own health and happiness is the best way to be strong for others. 

In this episode of The Talking Healthier Tuckshops Podcast, host, Deanne Wooden, talks to happiness expert, Claire Massingham on how to take time to focus on your physical and mental health, and how living well is a journey and doesn’t happen all at once. 

Making goals and finding ways to be accountable to yourself will give you the best chance of success.

About Claire and the Happiness Bank: https://happinessbank.com.au/about-claire-massingham/therealstuff/

Shop for the Happiness Book: https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/687506670/happiness-gift-happiness-book

About the guest:

Claire is a health professional who writes and speaks on topics including happiness, motivation, change, how exercise can make you feel good, guilt-free self-care, emotional wellbeing and healthy lifestyles.  

Claire’s own experiences in life have shaped her sink or swim mentality. She says she chose to be happy but it is not something that just comes to you. 

Claire believes health and happiness go hand-in-hand and to get started on a healthier life journey sometimes requires breaking through some barriers. 

Claire likes to talk about the ‘Happiness Bank’ – investing in your own happiness and topping up your bank.

The Talking Healthier Tuckshops podcast is funded by the Queensland Government through Health and Wellbeing Queensland  as part of the Healthier Tuckshops program.

This podcast is proudly brought to you by the Queensland Association of School Tuckshops and funded by the Queensland Government through Health and Wellbeing Queensland.