Health is the order of day

By Rebecca Fraser
MARANATHA Christian College students have bid farewell to hot dogs, pies and sausage rolls.
With Narre Warren food retailer Anthony Cheeseman at the helm, the school’s canteen was dramatically transformed for the 2006 school year.
Real fruit smoothies, baked potatoes and even gluten-free pumpkin and spinach lasagne are now on the menu.
Mr Cheeseman approached the school last year about managing and operating the canteen as a commercial venture that provided healthy food options.
The move came after health and human development teacher Eva Silverstein and food technology teachers Jenny Hodge and Evelyn Clark decided that something needed to be changed to promote healthier eating.
The teachers said they had been researching different food options for four months before Mr Cheeseman took on the role of canteen operator.
They said the new choices would lead to higher concentration, healthier bodies and heightened alertness in classrooms.
“Students were very much in favour of this and the reaction has been amazingly favourable,” Ms Hodge said.
Mr Cheeseman is a former manager of KFC and McDonald’s outlets, recently sold his two Michel’s Patisserie cake shops at Fountain Gate and opened a Cheesy Cafe in Dandenong Plaza that sells healthy food options.
He said he was keen to spread the initiative to other schools and instil healthier eating habits.
“My daughter was a student here and I thought, ‘why are there no lunch orders?’ Kids are less active these days, so eating a healthy diet could help counteract this because you cannot eat junk and be inactive at the same time and expect to be healthy,” he said.
“If the big boys like McDonald’s can have healthy choices, why can’t we do the same and offer some alternatives?”
Mr Cheeseman said students who worked in the canteen would be receiving certificates in recognition of their work and would be taught how to handle food.
Holt MP Anthony Byrne commended the move. “Local school communities should also know that they can apply for grants of up to $1500 from the Federal Government to promote healthy eating,” he said.
Schools wanting to order healthy food for their canteens should contact Mr Cheeseman on 0414 811 367.
Information on Healthy School Communities grants is available from Mr Byrne on 9796 7533.