Children hop to green canteen's healthy bites

It is a lean, green, health-boosting machine known to Broome Primary students as the Grasshoppers canteen.

Since becoming the first Kimberley school to implement a 100 per cent green canteen almost three years ago, the facility has helped change the eating habits of youngsters by providing healthy and nutritious meal options made from scratch.

The switch was initiated by BPS's healthy food committee, which is made up of staff, parents and health agencies, and is headed by canteen manager Karin Balharry-Moore.

The change has seen former favourites such as dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets, pies and spring rolls scrapped in favour of healthier alternatives categorised as "green" by the Department of Education's healthy food and drink policy, such as salad sandwiches and wraps, omelettes and vegetarian quiches.

Mrs Balharry-Moore said the children's eating habits had changed dramatically as a result.

"They used to just have nuggets, pies and spring rolls and things like that," she said.

"The children now will come up and order a spinach quiche and a toasted sandwich or a salad."

Staff operate the canteen five days a week and cater for up to 100 children.

Mrs Balharry-Moore said making the transition was well worth the effort.

"At first, it was hard - it's a lot more expensive to do, it's a lot more time-consuming because we make 97 per cent of things from scratch, but the kids love it and they enjoy it," she said.

"There are children who are now buying their lunches here that never did before because they can buy the same sort of things their mum would put in their lunchbox."

The school has even started a Facebook page to proudly promote their canteen.

Principal Mark Williams said he was delighted to see the positive outcomes.

"You can really see the difference in students being able to access food that is healthy, that's nutritious, that fills them up and sets them up for the day."

Parent Shelley Stansfield said her two girls regularly used the canteen since the switch because they now had daily access to healthy, nutritious vegetarian options.