Meet the judges: National Kitchen Garden Awards 2025

Key points 

• The National Kitchen Garden Awards recognise the tremendous creativity of kitchen gardens in schools and early childhood services across Australia. 

• A panel of passionate experts (Stephanie Alexander, Clarence Slockee, Thanh ‘Fruit Nerd’ Truong and Alice Zaslavsky) will judge the entries. 

• Submissions are open until 15 August 9:30am. 

The National Kitchen Garden Awards are back, and they’re more inspiring than ever. With nine exciting categories and nine $4000+ prize packs, there’s plenty to get excited about.  

But what really makes these awards special? The people. Especially the passionate educators, the curious kids, and, of course, our incredible panel of judges, who have the tough job of choosing the winners.    

So, before the submissions close on 15 August, let’s get to know the four experts who’ll be digging into your stories of sustainability, creativity, and community connection. 

Stephanie Alexander AO  

Credit: Rich Lowe

Food education champion, cook, restaurateur, and the author of 17 books (including Fresh and A Cook’s Life, both part of our prize packs!), Stephanie Alexander has changed the way Australians think about food.  

In 2004, she established the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation.  

"Our vision at the Kitchen Garden Foundation is for every child in Australia to have the opportunity to learn about where food comes from and how to cook nourishing, delicious meals for themselves and those around them,” she explains.  

Fast-forward 20 years, and thousands of schools and early learning centres later, she’s still as passionate as ever.    

“The National Kitchen Garden Awards are our chance to celebrate the incredible cooking and gardening activities that educators, students and young children are experiencing right around the country,” she says, adding that she’s looking forward to celebrating the creative stories of sustainability, food education, garden design and community empowerment once again.  

Clarence Slockee 

Credit: ABC Gardening Australia

Clarence Slockee brings deep cultural knowledge, landscape expertise, and plenty of heart to this year’s judging panel. A proud Cudgenburra/Bundjalung man, Clarence has been a familiar face on ABC’s Gardening Australia for over a decade, and is also the founding director of Jiwah, an Indigenous-owned company focused on cultural landscape and design.  

He has worked in education roles at the Sydney Botanic Garden and Barangaroo, and he is one of the green thumbs behind Australia’s first Indigenous rooftop garden. A man of many talents, he’s also an accomplished musician and dancer.

This is Clarence’s first year as a National Kitchen Garden Awards judge, and he’s pumped.  

‘‘’You are what you eat!’ has always been one of my favourite sayings and with kitchen gardens, you eat what you are… growing. I am really looking forward to seeing the entrants in this year’s National Kitchen Garden Awards with some amazing school gardens and student gardeners,” he says.  

Thanh ‘Fruit Nerd’ Truong  

Credit: Mark Roper

Is there a more joyful fruit-and-veggie ambassador than Thanh Truong?  

Known to many as the Fruit Nerd, Thanh is a produce expert, fruiterer, Nuffield scholar, author of Don’t Buy Fruit & Veg Without Me!, and the host of the TV series Field to Feast. He also has possibly the most impressive fruit-printed shirt collection in Australia.

Thanh’s on a mission to help people find and eat better produce. Like Stephanie and Alice, he’s returning to the judging panel for a second year. 

“I was blown away by children of all ages growing, cooking, composting and experimenting with kitchen and garden classes around the country,” he says. “The National Kitchen Garden Awards are such an awesome way to celebrate the inventive teachers and volunteers out there, showing young Australians how to connect with locally grown and globally loved fresh produce.”  

Alice Zaslavsky  

Credit: Rochelle Eagle

Energy? Enthusiasm? A serious love of vegetables? That’s Alice Zaslavsky.  

The former middle school teacher turned cookbook author, TV host and veggie cheerleader is a force in the food education world. Her latest cookbook Salad for Days (included in our prize packs!) is all about making veggies the hero.  

Alice couldn’t wait to come back as a judge: "Reading the entries from last year’s National Kitchen Garden Awards was so heart-warming and enjoyable,” she says. “I can’t wait to do it all again and be part of this very special occasion.”  

Alice, Stephanie and Thanh on judging duties in 2024.

Whether your students are inventing their own delicious recipes or designing sustainable irrigation systems, our judges can’t wait to hear their stories. Entries are open now until Friday 15 August at 9:30am. Get your hands dirty and your ideas flowing!  

Find all the National Kitchen Garden Awards info and apply here.

If you have any questions about the awards or the Kitchen Garden Program, please contact our Support Team at info@kitchengardenfoundation.org.au or 1300 072 543.