Students serve up the good stuff
Palmerston North’s Wholegrain Organics has thrown open the kitchen doors to teach schoolchildren about food technology and hospitality.
The inner-city eatery has been teaching students through its Hands on Food programme. They are involved from the harvesting of the plant, cooking it in Wholegrain Organics’ production kitchen, then serving it to customers in the store.
The company is holding an open day on Sunday to show the public what it does at the store and on its Napier Rd farm.
Owner Robert Hall said working with customers was important for the students’ learning. ‘‘The link between classroom and the commercial process brings student education right into the community – just the confidence in everything goes right up in a cooking sense, but also the teamwork and sense of community.’’
Hall said students make the food, receive feedback, then return to the design process. ‘‘It’s customers and consumers working together for education.’’
One example is Wholegrain Organics’ carob chocolate blocks, now sold around the country. Students helped with the development, even the packaging.
All profits from the sale of vegetables, shop items, cafe meals and items they produce and distribute go to the programme.
Devon Snedden, 14, from Cornerstone Christian School, has been training at Wholegrain Organics for two terms, as part of her Duke of Edinburgh work. ‘‘They make it really easy here. It’s a nice environment,’’ she said.
Wholegrain Organics has been working with schools for the past three years. It started the idea by going to schools, then moved to the Youth Space, but then Hall said customers wanted to support the students more, so he set up the training facilities at the store.