Cultivating a Passion for Careers in the Food Industry: From Garden to Kitchen

Even before their first class, a small group of Youth Transition Campus youth wake up early twice a week to tend the campus' container garden.

They check to see how the plants are growing, and harvest vegetables and fruits that will later be used in a culinary class where some of the same young people who harvested will learn how to create entrees, desserts and side dishes with the daily bounty.

Even before their first class, a small group of Youth Transition Campus youth wake up early twice a week to tend the campus' container garden.

They check to see how the plants are growing, and harvest vegetables and fruits that will later be used in a culinary class where some of the same young people who harvested will learn how to create entrees, desserts and side dishes with the daily bounty.

Both classes are part of the vocational program classes offered by the San Diego County Office of Education in partnership with County Probation.

The youth are learning the principles of horticulture and growing vegetables and fruit from seed to harvest with Master Gardener April Lowe. The majority of the harvest is gathered up and delivered to an afternoon culinary class taught by a real chef, Nathan Shelby.

"It's not that always the same students will have a chance to do both but at least we can show that there is a good partnership between that farm and table," Shelby said. "You know the farm sends us the food, we send them back the compost and scraps so that they can make the soil better. They talk a lot about soil science and growing techniques over there beyond just learning how to harvest plants."

Probation and the County Office of Education offer career technical education for the students that are at this campus who need to have a career pathway so when they are released, they have an opportunity to get an entry-level job somewhere. Shelby said the goal is to try to get them ready to work in any type of basic food service operation.

"This is a fun class for me. We cook delicious food and learn how to cook like so many recipes. It helps me do my time and this is something I want to do when I get out," said one student. I want to go to culinary school, real school, to learn how to cook. I like what he does, he can just whips up anything he wants."

Another culinary student said, "I love this class it's amazing. I'm really grateful for this opportunity to be in this classroom. It's really fun learning a lot of new things."

Culinary program students who complete 80 hours of instruction can take part in the first pre-apprenticeship program at a high school level. Some students can be hired as apprentices with Kitchens for Good, a program partner, or into other jobs in the hospitality industry.

All the students must obtain their food handlers' license by taking the County Board of Health test to ensure they understand how to handle food safely. They are taught cooking basics and techniques, how to safely use commercial kitchen equipment, and how to open and close a kitchen like they do in restaurants, Shelby said.

"I feel like when the students are locked in and they want to learn, there is an absolute ton they can learn, if either of these things interest them then they have a career pathway," Shelby said.