Planting healthy habits: Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden rolls out to preschoolers

"Tip it in," says two-year-old Remy, picking up a dish of cooked, chopped silverbeet and upending it into a bowl of mashed pumpkin. Lilly and Birdie, also two, take turns stirring the mixture, readying it for sausage rolls.

At a different table, children chop cucumber with plastic knives and mix it into yoghurt. They're standing outside, not far from the planter boxes that nurtured today's vegetables. Carers guide the kitchen activities but the kids are making it happen.

The toddlers attend Clarendon Children's Centre in South Melbourne, a childcare centre and kindergarten that has worked closely with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation to roll out a program enabling preschoolers to grow and cook their own food. The Early Years program officially launches today.

"The earlier children do these things the better," says cooking author and educator Stephanie Alexander, who piloted her first kitchen garden program in 2001 at Collingwood College. There are now more than 2000 early childhood, primary and secondary kitchen garden programs around Australia.

"Very small children can't do as much as primary school students but they can mix and spread and cut a little bit," says Alexander. "They can pick lettuce leaves from the garden and put together their own salad, making that important connection between a plant and something they put on their plate and eat."

Importantly, they love it. "It's got to be enjoyable," says Alexander. "We can't wag our fingers at anyone and frighten them into changing their behaviour."

Julie Lemmon, the Clarendon Children's Centre's cook and Healthy Eating Leader, has collaborated with the Kitchen Garden Foundation to develop the program.

"We start from the time they are babies – eight, nine, or 10 months old," she says. "I might give them a pot of spices to smell, expose their palates and build from there. By the time they are 12 or 13 months old, they're mashing potatoes. At three years, they are making beautiful spring rolls."

The Kitchen Garden Foundation collaborated with 14 other early childhood services, including Coburg Children's Centre and Country Buddies Bendigo, to develop the program. Any early childhood service can apply to become a foundation member and access the program's educational resources.

The benefits are multiple. "We turn cautious eaters into curious eaters, giving them a healthy relationship with food and showing them it's not hard to make something from scratch quickly," says Lemmon.

"It breaks down barriers between ages and helps children who have English as a second language because food is a common denominator. It assists children with their gross motor skills and they learn food safety and sustainability too. We always say 'we are cooking for the plate, not for the bin'. There is just so much to it."

Back at the cooking table, Remy is rolling the pumpkin and silverbeet mixture into puff pastry sheets. "I'm doing it," he says, then picks up a knife to cut the rolls into appealingly wonky portions ready for the oven. The children will eat the rolls they've made for afternoon tea.

"They've watched food grow, they've picked it, washed it, cut it, cooked it," says Julie Lemmon. "We are teaching children about the journey of food, which helps to create lifelong healthy eating habits. It couldn't be more important."