YRK Launching Place’s Supermarket Pop-up, a community pantry, offers free food for families and fresh ideas for children’s learning.
A parent-led community pantry helps stock family kitchens each Friday. On Wednesday, teacher Elisa Forrest uses items from the pantry for cooking sessions along with vegetables grown by children in the infants' vegetable patch. The pantry and the cooking classes, connect growing, cooking, and sharing food.
Started by a former parent volunteer, the pantry receives food from SecondBite, a charity that saves surplus food and shares it with communities.
Current volunteer parent Felicity and other parents added fridges to store a wider range of food.
“The pantry is for all our kindergarten families. Parents help keep it going and everyone is welcome to use what’s available,” Felicity says.
On Wednesdays, children cook with garden produce and pantry items. They measure, mix and watch ingredients change, learning much about maths, science, the environment as well as nutrition. Recipes go home so families can try them and share their own food knowledge.
“Growing and cooking food gives children so much to explore. They can follow a vegetable from the garden to the table, ask questions and share what they’ve learnt with their families,” says teacher and Nominated Supervisor Elisa Forrest.
Through Bush Kinder, children also explore their local area. In 2024, they spent a term making a map of the Yarra River, parks, shops, and their homes. Families shared their knowledge of these places.
Elisa’s nomination for the 2026 ANZUK x ELAA Impact Award highlights her support for the pantry and how she links it with children’s learning.