2024 RAS Foundation Charity Brunch

As the philanthropic arm of the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW (RAS), the RAS Foundation engages in its primary fundraising events at the annual Sydney Royal Easter Shows through its Charity Brunch, raffle and silent auction.

This year's Charity Brunch selected the not-for-profit organisation “Making Friends with Food, by The Root Cause™” to be the beneficiary of the 2024 fundraising initiative. Making Friends with Food is an innovative, award winning food literacy partnership for Australian schools, designed to address the alarming rates of childhood illness. The programme is carefully designed to empower students, parents and teachers to know how to make better food choices that enhance mood, behaviour and overall well-being.

Belinda Smith, Founder of The Root Cause, shared with Charity Brunch attendees that the program was developed to encourage better food choices through education, citing these facts: 44% of Australian children have at least one chronic health condition, one in four are overweight or obese, and 32% of primary school children report symptoms of anxiety and adult-onset conditions like Type 2 Diabetes.

With only 6% of Australian children eating enough fruit and vegetables, they are consuming more sugar in a single lunch than they’re meant to have in an entire day. Belinda shared how teachers are at a breaking point with children unable to focus or concentrate.

Results of the Making Friends with Food prevention programme include teachers seeing children choosing less junk and “party” food and eating more vegetables and fruit every day.

The program has already empowered over 60,000 young participants and has been implemented across 287 schools, with The Root Cause on a mission to reach even more schools, students and their families.

RAS Foundation Manager, Cecilia Logan said she couldn’t be happier with the outcome of the 2024 Charity Brunch event. “Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we almost doubled our goal of $25,000, raising over $43,000.”

With these funds in hand, The Root Cause will be able to transform children's health across the regions of Narrabri, Wee Waa and Moree where approximately 2,000 children will benefit, gaining improved food literacy and come to understand the profound impact it has on their life-long health.

“Food is foundational to wellbeing. Our goal is to make food a fun experiment and to empower children to build lifelong nourishing friendships with a wide variety of food so they can live a life free of chronic illness.” Belinda Smith, Founder, The Root Cause.