Waste not, want not: Student Composting and Dining Services collaborate
Student Composting group enjoys fruits of labor
Skidmore Student Composting recently teamed up with the College's Dining Services
to offer roughly a dozen community members instruction in food preparation involving
safety, skills, and food waste reduction. Composed of mainly students, the group prepared
a risotto dish for the main meal with a fresh garden salad, and a fruit salad with
hand-made whipped topping for dessert.
Jim Rose, executive chef, and Mark Miller, director of dining services, demonstrated
basic food safety, preparation, and waste-reduction practices while sharing their
knowledge of and enthusiasm for food. They led students, step-by-step, through the
preparation of a complete meal.
The group learned that when making risotto, it is important to keep in mind time
requirements and general meal planning. Students also followed a variety of steps
and learned to use open-fire burners safely. Rose and Miller were on hand during the
entire operation, providing insights as students completed various tasks.
While preparing red bell peppers for a salad, students were instructed safe use of
knives and cutting boards, such as keeping fingertips curled away from the blade and
placing wet towels below the cutting boards to keep them in place. They learned that
slicing peppers vertically allowed them to remove inedible parts without wasting tasty
portions of the pepper. Students also learned the benefits of using plastic cutting
boards over wooden boards. Even smaller and finer cuts in wooden boards harbor bacteria,
something that hard-plastic cutting boards will not allow. The same cuts can retain
flavors or fragments of other foods that may not be suitable for other meals or consumers
(such as meat flavors for other dishes, or vegan meals). Throughout the meal prep,
participants added the inedible food scraps, such as melon skins, to a compost bin
that was dumped later at the composting site near the Northwoods Parking Lot.
After the meals were complete, students sat down with their fellow community members
and enjoyed an exceptionally tasty meal. Participants shared conversation and their
interests in food, getting to know community members they don't always have a chance
to see.
Following such a positive response, Skidmore Composting and Dining Services is excited
to host another Food Skills/Safety and Waste Reduction dinner, so keep your eyes peeled!
Organizers may even consider potlucks and instructional dinners based in Northwoods
Apartment housing using students' kitchens.
Skidmore Composting is interested in community feedback and ideas! Feel free to contact
us for further inquiry or upcoming events at jgarvin@skidmore.edu or pbabbitt@skidmore.edu.
~ By Patrick Babbitt ’14
