Mount Rowan was the first Ballarat school to join the Vic Kids Eat Well program, adopting healthier food and drink options for lunches and snack.

The school's food technology assistant Chloe Hewitt has also been working to better incorporate the school's new Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden and food technology classes with the canteen, for example, using left over banana and berries from cooking classes into muffins for the canteen. The menu changes for interest and seasonality.

Mount Rowan principal Seona Murnane said the process was helping students become more aware of seasonal produce and reducing waste.

"We knew our food menu needed a major overhaul looking at how much sugar and caffeine was in product and this goes beyond that and makes it healthier," Ms Murnane said.

"We have our veggie patch outside the canteen and students can see how things are growing and what they're learning about connects to the canteen and they can access a wide variety of foods."

Ms Murnane said the school also felt a duty of care to students, in encouraging them to consume healthier alternatives also helped them learn better in class.

Foods and drinks classed as "red" or "sometimes" foods were still available but just not as often. Ms Murnane said with working parents, often under time pressure, students were grabbing lunch more from the canteen than they might in the past and it was hard for parents and the school to gauge what kinds of foods students were regularly consuming.

This way, while not a lunch monitoring system, guaranteed healthier meals more often.

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Ms Murnane and Ms Hewitt said students' response had been mixed at first but food still sold out daily.

Ballarat Community Health health promotions officer Tameaka Lakey said Mount Rowan was doing a great job in encouraging sustainable change and awareness for healthier options.

Ms Lakey said the Vic Kids Eat Well program was rolling out in Ballarat the next three years in schools, community clubs and out-of-hours care. She has also been working with schools in the region to reinvigorate veggie gardens that had struggled amid home learning.

"It's all moving away from unhealthier options, not banning anything or becoming the food police," Ms Lakey said.

"We want to create environments where there are more options and more variety for students to learn health foods are not just delicious but also nutritious."

Organisations can learn more about Vic Kids Eat Well and join at: vickidseatwell.health.vic.gov.au

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