Stuck for fresh food ideas?Get down to Bourke’s community garden
Tricia Duffield
Getting fresh, affordable fruit and vegetables in Bourke can sometimes be a challenge.
And coming up with interesting meals to get the family to eat their vegies can also be a battle at the dinner table.
Two dietetics students are in Bourke for the next four weeks and would like to encourage the community to use what is grown at home or the community garden in what they cook, as fresh fruit and vegies are so important to overall health.
Hannah McPherson and Elizabeth Hall are in their final year of their master’s degree at University of Sydney and are in Bourke for the next four weeks to get their hands dirty – literally – in the BACHS-REDI.E Bourke Community Garden on Anson Street.
Clinical Educator for the dietetic students at the North West Academic Centre, Charlene Noye said that gardens are an important space because they can provide fresh food to nourish the body, a space for mental well-being, and so many more benefits for overall health and the environment.
“It could be a back yard, or the community garden, but isolation does not mean residents can’t enjoy a healthy, varied diet,” Charlene said.
The students will be running free, hands on cooking classes at the REDI.E Worksite at 23 Anson Street over the next two Tuesdays, May 2 and May 9, at 10am, and these classes are open to anyone who has an interest in cooking, gardening, eating, or socialising.
The two cooking programs are a pilot program for the BACHS-REDI.E Bourke community garden project.
Dietetics student Elizabeth Hall said the community garden is an ongoing project, but that she and Hannah want to learn from the community while in Bourke.
“We want people to come down to the community garden, have a good time together picking and choosing the produce, and sharing a meal together,” Hannah said.
Hannah and Elizabeth’s placement in Bourke was made possible through the North West Academic Centre (NWAC), which is a part of the Broken Hill University Department of Rural Health (BHUDRH) and University of Sydney.
Local clinical educator, Charlene Noye said that he NWAC is involved in many health discipline placements, whether it be the more traditional clinical placements or in the preventative health space. […]
Read more in the printed edition of The Western Herald.
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