MUCH has been made about the ever growing city-country divide.
But one way to close the gap is to introduce more agricultural-type activities to Perth schools.
Oberthur Primary School, Bull Creek, identified the need to teach students about the importance of food, and in light of recent reports which identified enormous gaps about basic food origin understanding, it couldn't come at a better time.
It has established a school garden, which is proving a fun and interactive way to learn about where food comes from.
Traditional classroom gardens encompass fruit, vegetables and herbs, but one metropolitan school has taken it a step further to include agricultural crops in their 'outdoor classroom'.
The garden was established in 2011 and initially grew produce such as lettuce, zucchini and watermelons which the students could watch grow and then pick and eat.
But it now resembles a typical WA farm with everything from lentils, to chickpeas, wheat, barley and lupins.
Oberthur Primary School year four and five teacher Jane Lowe said the garden complemented the curriculum perfectly.
"We have been able to link the history of agriculture to our studies of Ancient Greece," she said.
"The wheat we have linked to the early settlers of Australia and after we have ground the grain into flour we will be making damper.
"It has also be a great cultural awareness exercise and two of our parents from India have been able to to come in and make a traditional Indian dish with the chickpeas."
Canola Breeders project manager Sue Knights said the students had been involved every step of the way.
"We inoculated some of the chickpeas and then compared nodule development of the two," she said.
"We also grew sunflowers and the students were able to measure them and determine growth rates."
Dr Knights said as the garden was chemical free it became a problem solving exercise to determine how to keep the crops free of bugs.
"I think it has really made the students more aware about where their food comes from and what is involved to get it onto their plates," she said.
"It's a wonderful initiative that raises the profile of agriculture and gets kids inspired at a young age."
