Institute for Culinary Awareness Research & Education
Program Goals
The Institute’s goal is to run a comprehensive culinary and agricultural curriculum, establish a learning and resource center, award scholarships and grants, implement a food conservation program, and establish an outreach training program for underserved community members, juvenile offenders and at risk young adults. These goals will be met by student tuition and charitable contributions, any additional proceeds are dispersed to nonprofit organizations that share the vision of the institute.
Program Curriculum
The program curriculum is based on an approach to the understanding of agriculture through the development of culinary technique. As the student learns about specific culinary technique they will apply each of the gained proficiencies to regionally specific food categories with special focus on sustainable agricultural production. This is a novel approach to delivering this type of information because it intrinsically links regional specific culinary cultures and agricultures to each applied skill by integrating geographic and agricultural information with primary cooking principles, and effectively reinforces applied knowledge gained through the presented curriculum.
Learning and Resource Center
The institution campus acts as a public resource center for professional development and research. The physical location provides a library of literature, texts and media, specific to culinary arts, horticulture, agriculture, sustainable initiatives, nutrition, diet and disease, food safety, sanitation, and other related fields. It dedicates resources to connect to a virtual campus with an archive of related trade information, as well as, public access to the internet. A staff member is available during posted times and is able to serve as a guide for research, career and employment strategies, resume writing, and can provide interview tips. The campus is a meeting and demonstration area that promotes an interactive exchange point for community members, students, industry employers, and job seekers. The learning and resource center is funded by the overall operational costs.
Outreach Training Program
A key to gainful employment and an eventual career path is quality training and placement assistance. The Outreach program is designed to providing no cost training in culinary arts and agriculture to juvenile offenders, at risk adolescents, military veterans, and the unemployed and underemployed who meet the criteria of the Institute and have the desire to start in these fields at entry level. This is not a comprehensive training program, rather it is an awareness opportunity for those who wish to start in an entry level position that match the skill level of the participant to and receive on the job training from networked employers provided by the Institute. Other no cost training involves essential cooking skills applied with a general understanding of sanitation, nutrition and dietary need. This training is designed for single mothers, underserved families and individuals, elderly, disabled, and for those with physical illness that can be managed with information, nutrition, and culinary training. Transportation vouchers and a van service would increase the capacity and effectiveness of this program however, like the Food Conservation Program, the initial cost of the Out Reach Training Program is included in the overall labor cost and can eventually include a van or bus service for participants.
We don't just teach you how to cook,
we teach you how to CARE!