Celebrating two years of Farm My School

Farm My School co-founder and director Ben Shaw at the program's farm. (Ivan Kemp) 432154_07

A Bellarine food education program will celebrate its second birthday with a festive and family-friendly community party.

Farm My School (FMS) will open its gates to the public at the Bellarine Secondary College on Thursday, October 31, from 3.30pm to 8.30pm.

The event will feature music performances from Bellarine Secondary College students, a student photographic display, tree planting in the FMS orchard, food vans and other fun activities.

FMS co-founder James McLennan said he was proud of the program’s progress during its two years of operation.

“We’re excited to invite the community back to the farm to join us in celebrating our second birthday,” he said.

“It’s really remarkable seeing the transformation of a disused soccer pitch, full of weeds and rabbit warrens, into an abundant market garden, that now supports a range of programs and initiatives.”

Bellarine Secondary College principal Wayne Johannesen said the event was an opportunity to celebrate the partnership between FMS and Bellarine Community Health (BCH).

“Together we’ve achieved a lot in two years and I’m really looking forward to seeing what the students create as part of the celebrations,” he said.

BCH Healthy Communities planner Pen Lynch said the FMS pilot program continued to expand and now includes an education program open to other regional schools.

“It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since the big ‘build a farm in a day’ event when construction of the farm began,” she said.

“It’s grown so much since then and the birthday party is a wonderful celebration of everyone who has contributed to the farm, big or small, since that day.”

The event is free for Bellarine Secondary College students, their families, and staff, with a small admission cost for general community members.

Visit events.humanitix.com/farm-my-school-2nd-birthday-party-97pue4q4 for tickets to the FMS’s second birthday party.