By Keelan Scott
As the year ends, boys are maturing into seniors and it’s only right we start to look at food and the process behind how food is formed. Katherine Clontarf Academy were lucky enough to attend Food Ladder.
Food Ladder has been around for roughly 10 years and is the world’s first non-for-profit organisation to use hydroponics and environmentally sustainable technologies to create food and financial security for communities that are affected by poverty as well as environmental factors such as flooding.
Many communities in the Northern Territory are cut off in wet season, due to the rain that pours down constantly for weeks out in the wetlands with no settle time. Food Ladder aims to provide knowledge combined with product to ensure that these communities are benefiting from the healthy organic products available at their fingertips rather than waiting for the next shipment to arrive.
Food Ladder wants to ensure that they are not only an organisation that imports staff from other states but rather employs locally and gives training opportunities for the local community as well as educational outcomes for children/ students involved.
It’s one of the most important parts of life and leads to many advantages. Healthy eating is something that we should all be learning about from a young age to ensure we have a long, fulfilled lifespan with good mental and physical health.
Katherine recently was labelled the fattest town in Australia. As a mentor I wanted to ensure I was giving the best possible knowledge I could give back to my group. When Food ladder came to mind – it was a no brainer. The team at Food Ladder were unbelievable and communicated very well to the boys who were fully engaged from the start.
Scotty (Food Ladder’s Horticulture and Training Manager) was able to answer all the questions as well as let the boys grab some food while touring the facilities.
The biggest highlight from the day was seeing the group try freshly picked tomatoes – most of which had never tried one before. The group really enjoyed the taste and said it was nothing like they expected.
The Clontarf boys were so engaged with the day that they asked if they could go back and plant their own seeds and watch them progress over the term.