VCAL - Food Security Network Program
As part of the Personal Development Skills course students have been researching and studying the reasons that lead to some sections of our community to go without food on a regular basis such as unemployment, mental health and lack of education. This involved researching organisations that exist that attempt to address this problem in our society.

Students developed a vegetable garden at the school through the Food Security Network (FSN) organisation headed by Chris Sayar. FSN has been created by teachers who are passionate about social justice and empowering young people to believe they can make a difference.

Once a fortnight Chris would work directly with staff and students teaching a range of skills about growing food and some aspects about the environment and nutrition. After three months of tending to the vegetable garden the crop was ready for harvest. Unfortunately harvesting had to take place during the last lockdown. To delay the harvest until students returned would have seen the crop go to seed and not usable. Twenty boxes of vegetables were loaded on to Chris’s trailer and delivered the same day to The Asylum Seekers Centre and FareShare. Both or these charity organisations do a fantastic job of providing meals to those who simply do not have the access to personal resources that we take for granted to feed ourselves.

Congratulations to all of the VCAL students and staff who participated in the FSN Program.