For many students at College of the Canyons, the free lunch offered by the campus’ Institute for Culinary Education on Thursday was a great way to start the semester and save some cash.
“It helped me with a little bit of just stress-relief,” said Jaden Roberts, a fire technology major. “Although it may be like 30 minutes, it’s just stress-relief. I have a very big [and] very, very tough class right now. And it’s like, ‘cool, I can have a little bit of food and just chill out, relax and enjoy.’”
But for other students it’s more than that. A free meal, and a good one at that, can mean a lot to students who face food insecurity or scarcity. Trevor Montes, a graphic media design major, said he’s one of those students.
“There’s some people, including me, that they’re always hungry… and don’t have enough food at home,” said Montes.
“I just haven’t had that much food at home recently,” said Evelina Zubrinskaya, an English major. “So it was nice and it’s a lot more nutritious than the food I eat at home. And then there was more vegetables and stuff. And then it was pretty cool to just [be] able to eat something with more variety than what I usually eat.”
“I have to kind of be mindful of how much I spend when I eat, because I’m a little low on money right now,” said Carlos Vazquez, an engineering major. “So just them serving a free, good lunch for students is really helpful because… people with food insecurities, and who may not have enough money to get food, it’s really beneficial for them. So you know, they can eat and they can focus on their studies.”
Cindy Schwanke, chair of COC’s Department of Culinary Arts and Wine Studies, said that it’s great to hear her students are helping their peers in this way. Schwank said COC’s culinary program is different from others, in that it doesn’t need to supply COC’s cafeteria, allowing its students to learn the art of cooking and why it’s important.
“It’s more than just cooking,” said Schwanke. “It’s, seeing other students and providing them with a delicious meal that you made. I mean that’s kind of why we’re in hospitality… we’re people pleasers and please people by the food that we serve them… we have to train [our students] those soft skills as well. It’s not all about slamming out some filet mignon, you know, it’s more than that.”
The culinary department has been running the “fuel up station” for four years, but had to delay it due to the pandemic. This was the first year it was back and Schwanke said she’s glad to have it back up and running.
Students who wanted a free lunch simply had to present their student ID at the culinary department’s restaurant and were then served a gourmet burrito filled with either turkey or vegetables, rice, beans, cheese, roasted corn, pico de gallo, and salsa — all of which was made by the students.
“It’s great to see students and they appreciate it so much that we care enough about them to, you know, feed them and welcome them, make sure they don’t go hungry, let them know about all the campus resources that are available to them,” said Schwanke. “And it’s great for the culinary students because they feel a sense of pride — because our culinary students in the catering class made the meal for them. So they made the meal and they’re serving it to their peers.”
