Community Food Drive Inspires Culinary Students
Q&A with Colleen Meyn, Culinary Arts Teacher at West Valley High
Colleen Meyn, Culinary Arts teacher at West Valley High, saw an opportunity to teach her students about sourcing locally grown food and the skillsets needed after seeing food insecurity families faced over the last couple of years. Along with teaching about foraging and hunting locally, Colleen launched a community-wide food drive that brought in donations of locally grown produce worth over $500.
What is the Culinary Arts Program?
The Culinary Arts program is a CTE course. It’s a two-year program which helps students learn the ins and outs of the hospitality industry. The first year focuses mainly on the basics of cooking and working entry-level jobs in restaurants. Each student gets a food handler card by the end of the first quarter. This allows them to work immediately in the food industry if they want to.
We do culinary units based on themes. We start with the locavore unit, then do a coffee shop unit (so they know all the drinks and how to bake or cook everything a coffee shop offers), then an egg unit. The second quarter is dedicated to mastering stocks and sauces, and so forth–that's the dinner-date unit.
LOCALLY GROWN
I really like the locavores unit, or eating locally. Dealing with COVID the last couple of years, lots of people began to experience food insecurity. So, to help, I researched local food that can be foraged or grown or hunted. Now I do a unit on that at the beginning of the year. I take the students out around the school and gather rose hips, which we make into jam, and sometimes greens, which we can make into a pesto. I foraged for cranberries (both high bush and low bush) and showed them the differences and how beneficial they are. This gives them the idea that they could eat locally if they needed to.
What sparked the idea of a community food drive?
Last year we were blessed with 13 silver salmon and a quarter of a moose to cook with for this unit. (It’s legal to donate it, just not sell it. I asked the troopers). Our Native students were excited to have moose meat in class! We have such a great community.
I am a member of two Facebook food groups: Fairbanks Gardens and Harvesters of Alaska. I find the community there to be very supportive and friendly. Often, gardeners will have extra and share with others (like squash). So, I thought, why not ask? And the community really stepped up!
How successful was it?
We received over $500 dollars worth of produce and a home-grown turkey weighing in at 39 pounds! We recently received fresh picked rhubarb, probably 12-15 pounds–which means strawberry-rhubarb crisp!
How do students benefit from community involvement through donations?
The students benefit on many levels:
-
Students get fresh produce and nutrients.
-
Students experience a variety of produce that isn’t usually available in the store.
-
Donations stretch our food budget, which allows extra days of cooking in class.
-
Generousity-students can better understand how giving can benefit others.
-
Learn about what grows here and how to cook it.
What have you made from the donations?
Kale chips, roasted cauliflower, minestrone soup, coleslaw, Asian salad, stir fry, jam, muffins, scones, fried eggs (comparing bantam eggs, duck eggs, and store-bought eggs), and soon pie.
Who can we thank for donations?
Thanks go out to:
Reese’s Greenhouse (a HUGE DONATION): multicolored cauliflower, cabbage, kale
UAFs Georgeson Botanical Garden: green beans, kohlrabi, Saskatoon or service berries, honeybush berries, and other berries
Lucas and Olivia White (students): a 4-H turkey, veggies, eggs, rhubarb
Bonne Wolstad: cabbage, broccoli, kale, chard, so much!
A few other fellow forgers and gardeners dropped off other things as well.