What a pleasure it is to read this book.

Laurent Vancam and his wife and business partner, Chantal, share my belief that children will respond positively to attractively presented, healthy and most importantly, delicious food. They have proved this theory by their work in the canteen at St John’s College in Nambour, on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. They cook with fresh seasonal food every day, the menus are varied and the children all love it, the recipes are simple to follow and the canteen is operating profitably. What more could any school canteen wish for? And all without any negative messages to children.

Laurent is a trained chef and his training in organisation and time management is put to good use in keeping this busy canteen operating so smoothly. Perhaps Laurent should set up a training facility for other school canteen managers who may be finding it difficult to achieve the same results.

I wish Laurent and Chantal every success with their book and strongly urge other canteen managers to study it and consider how a similar approach could apply in their school. It comes as no surprise that the canteen at St John’s was awarded Queensland Tuckshop of the Year in 2008.

http://www.kitchengardenfoundation.org.au/