Mushroom schools education program (MU23006)

What is it all about?

This program is launching a kid-friendly, fun, and interactive online mushroom educational platform that contains Australian curriculum-aligned lesson plans for teachers, free mushroom kits for classrooms, and an exciting 'experiential program' with the option of in-person or virtual mushroom farm tours.

Challenge

Neither plant nor animal food, mushrooms have unique biological, nutritional, and culinary properties, which means that mushrooms belong in a separate food group from vegetables. Understanding mushrooms' biological, nutritional, and culinary properties and their unique growth cycle is essential to their separation from vegetables, which provides an opportunity to highlight mushrooms as a sustainably grown, fresh and nutrition-packed superfood essential for our everyday diets.

Response

This program will provide multi-component interventions to increase students' understanding and appreciation for mushrooms. In doing so, it will support their differentiation as a separate food group, generate interest in the industry (and potentially horticulture more broadly), and help children, teachers, and the broader school community interact with and appreciate the power of mushrooms. The program will further enhance and bring to life the sustainable 'farm to fork' story while highlighting the unique nutritional benefits of mushrooms.

Benefit

By developing Australian curriculum-aligned lesson plans and resources and delivering an engaging online educational platform for teachers of primary-aged children, the program will increase knowledge of the unique biological and nutritional properties of mushrooms and their physiology and life cycle, ultimately increasing the appreciation and use of fresh mushrooms.