This has all the ingredients to be a success. 

There is a classroom kitchen soon to open on the third floor of the Clark Center for Science & Mathematics. The invitation to use the space knows no limits: bring your class, dorm, advisee group, affinity group, or team.  

“This initially came out of the need for a place to process honey and maple syrup because we don’t have a dedicated place, and those programs have just grown so much,” said Marley Matlack, the Christopher H. Lutz Director of the Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies. “Also, in the past five years, there has been a real uptick in the interest in food from a lot of different students and organizations here on campus.” 

Many capstone projects by students in the Global & Environmental Studies Certificate (GESC) program have been food-related, Marley said. Last year, for instance, there was a healthy dorm snack project and one on African cuisine. 

“Food,” Marley said, “is such an amazing vehicle, just a great entry point to open students’ eyes to different cultures, different stories, different concepts. It's a great opportunity for place-based education, to have a hands-on experience that changes your perspective on what you’re learning and doing.” 

Then there is that bonus at the end, Marley said: “You have a tasty treat.” 

The opportunities are bountiful. The Alvord Center’s artificial intelligence assistant generated many ideas for all subjects, from “hosting a ‘philosophy and food ethics’ discussion around themes such as animal rights, the ethics of food scarcity, and the implications of dietary choices”; to “preparing food specific to various religious holidays.” Other ideas: “workshops in the kitchen for athletes focused on sports nutrition, hydration, and recovery foods,” and having a ceramics class “create functional, aesthetic dishware or serving tools that can be used in food presentations, then use these pieces in the kitchen to plate meals or for food photography.”  

Sarah Griggs, an associate director of the Alvord Center, said she already has been approached by various people interested in using the kitchen. 

Sarah said a goal of the new kitchen is to “enrich education in and out of the classroom and provide opportunities for people to be more engaged ... whether it is an affinity group looking to share a common meal or a course that is looking to deepen whatever unit of study it is doing by engaging the senses more and making the learning opportunity more meaningful. The more hands-on and the more senses we engage, the greater retention there is and the greater impact there is.” 

A dash of honey produced from the LC apiary. A bit of maple syrup from the sugarhouse on campus. A recipe for success has been started.