Victoria Bernard

Victoria Bernard’s job with Garden to Table is all about vegetables, and it’s making a difference. Declining health, nutrition and increasing obesity are a real threat to New Zealand’s children and their futures. With Victoria’s help, children are enjoying themselves while doing hands-on learning – without even knowing it. You may not be as interested in vegetables as her, but perhaps you should be!

I’m a farm girl at heart. Being free, out in open spaces, is such a privilege in this busy world and I treasure my memories of growing up in rural Hawkes Bay. 

My parents have always been givers. They have put hundreds of hours towards amazing causes, both local and international. They are still doing that now. I guess that rubs off on you.

My husband died 2 years ago at the age of 34, when our children were only three and four. He was the strongest, funniest, kindest man. He was magnetic to people, drawing them in with his genuine interest in them. I took it for granted but it was a real talent. Being part of his life, even though for less time than we all expected, has left me a kinder person. Without him by my side I’ve had to make sure I look for the positive in life and seek out positive people. 

I’ve been a teacher for 15 years. I love it. I love leading young people to a place where they are free to explore and then unpicking and celebrating what they discovered, and then asking, ‘What next?’ But being a teacher comes with the inevitable admin load and that ultimately stifles creativity. 

If you’re creative, you need to find others like you; those who aren’t think you’re mad. My whole career my employers have thought I was mad and wished I conformed a little bit more. I had to prove myself much more than others had to.

I now have the perfect job – combining my love of vegetables, cooking, growing and teaching. I am sure I bore people talking about vegetables but they’re all I do!

I coordinate the Garden to Table schools in Wellington City. My official title is Programme Coordinator, but I also write teaching resources for teachers so they can take the learning from the kitchen or garden back to the classroom and explore it in more depth. That’s where my creativity goes wild!

I get the freedom to write crazy resources for teachers – like Rude Food: the weird, wonderful and gross things that vegetables do to your body. It teaches kids how their digestive system works in a way that they will never forget.

I wrote a teaching resource to tie in with Anzac Day with loads of historical photos and activities that really help students engage with history in a fun but memorable way. As part of my research I found a newspaper article from 1943 that suggested the lawn at Parliament be turned into a vegetable garden, so I decided to do it. The Speaker of the House, Trevor Mallard, gave me permission and I had students come from all of my Wellington schools to plant the garden. Now it’s spring there are loads of vegetables ready to harvest. No carrots though - the rabbits ate those! Who would have thought in Central Wellington? The idea of a classroom without walls is my kind of learning.

Everyone should eat more vegetables and grow them if they can. It fixes everything – you connect with nature every day, you keep active, you reduce food miles, you get more fibre in your diet, you feel better, both mentally and physically – what’s more positive than that!

It’s so boring to say, but a charity’s biggest challenge is always money. We need funding to make the long-term impact that Garden to Table has available to all New Zealand children. It is not just a cooking and gardening programme, it has an impact on lifelong nutrition, physical health, mental health, truancy, attitude to school, and offers literacy, numeracy and science learning in context. 

That’s really exciting to be part of. I just hope for bigger and better things for Garden to Table in terms of funding. We can change the world one vegetable at a time!

– As told to Ben Woodward. Image by Pat Shepherd.

With more funding, Garden to Table can make a long-term impact on the health of New Zealand in generations to come. You can help with a regular donation via One Percent Collective by clicking that huge blue button below, thank you :)