Transforming Education through Regenerative Farming
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Overview
Overview
Farm My School (FMS) is reimagining education and community in Victoria, Australia by transforming underutilised school land into thriving regenerative market gardens that nourish, educate, and connect local families. In collaboration with Bellarine Community Health and Bellarine Secondary College, we've built a viable market garden producing 250kg of fresh produce weekly whilst engaging over 1,500 students annually through hands-on learning experiences that connect students to curriculum in ways traditional classrooms can’t.
Our groundbreaking model demonstrates how schools can become catalysts for systemic change, simultaneously addressing food insecurity, educational engagement, environmental restoration, and community resilience. The pilot's success has attracted significant interest from government, foundations, and communities across Australia, leading to our expansion to Colac Secondary College.
Our comprehensive evaluation framework tracks student learning outcomes, community food security indicators, soil health improvements, and farmer employment pathways - enabling us to demonstrate measurable impact for policy makers and partners.
Key actors
Key actors
Bellarine Secondary College
Bellarine Community Health
Deakin University Food & Mood Centre - Research partner
Community Bank Bellarine
Geelong Community Foundation
Barwon Water
Local regenerative farmers network
Alignment with EAT-Lancet Commission
Alignment with EAT-Lancet Commission
Farm My School's model embodies the EAT-Lancet Commission's vision for planetary health diets and sustainable food systems transformation. Our work directly advances three of the Commission's five critical strategies: building community knowledge about growing nutrient-dense foods through food literacy programs, reorienting agricultural priorities toward biodiversity rather than high-volume commodity production, and sustainably intensifying production through regenerative practices.
Our pilot demonstrates that schools can produce significant quantities of high-quality food whilst improving soil health, enhancing biodiversity, and creating carbon-positive systems. This integration of education, production, and community engagement creates precisely the multi-sector action the Commission identifies as essential for achieving planetary health at scale.
Lessons learned
Lessons learned
Farm My School's model is unique in creating farms within schools, through locating production directly on campus ensures sustained engagement rather than tokenistic off-site visits.
Rigorous evaluation frameworks demonstrate impact beyond anecdotal evidence
Multifaceted data collection enables dynamic progress reporting
Evidence-based storytelling creates compelling public narratives
Next steps
Next steps
Implementing our second farm at Colac Secondary College - working with Colac Area Health and Colac Otway Shire & broader community
Expanding Community Workshops, Corporate Experiences and Farmer Incubator Program
Scaling to multiple school sites - collaborating with Departments of Education in each state & territory, and Federal Government, regional health services & philanthropy.
Achieving financial sustainability for each site - establishing diversified revenue streams through partnerships & philanthropy.
For more information contact: James McLennan at james@farmmyschool.com.au
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