BRATTLEBORO — As reported in The Commons, 11 people aspiring to culinary careers successfully completed the Strolling of the Heifers Farm-to-Plate apprenticeship program and are about to begin new jobs at local food businesses. We would like to be sure that all of the partners who made this possible are given full credit.
Major grant support came from the Walmart Foundation, the Procter & Gamble Foundation, and the Sandy River Charitable Foundation.
Each of the participants completed an internship at a local food business or institution, where they received valuable coaching, practiced a variety of culinary techniques and gained knowledge about food preparation. The internship hosts were: True North Granola Company, O.W.L. Energy Bar, Thompson House Rehabilitation & Nursing Center, the Brattleboro Retreat, Against the Grain Gourmet, The Works, Thai Bamboo, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, The Marina, Whetstone Station, The Porch, New England House, and the Brattleboro Food Coop.
Major support came from the Windham Regional Career Center, which made available its kitchen and classroom space for the program, and from the American Legion Post 5, which also provided kitchen space and hosted the graduation ceremony.
Many thanks also to guest speakers Sandra Ladd (Physical Therapy Associates of Brattleboro) on injury prevention; Karen Woodcock (Southeastern Vermont Community Action) on SEVCA's services; Joanne Sprague (Key Bank), on personal finance; Jane Winterling (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) on nutrition; Becky Auger (Vermont Association of Business, Industry and Rehabilitation) and Phil Greenleaf (VocRehab Vermont) on resume writing; and Ian Diamondstone of New Forest Organics, who presented a workshop on spices.
Thanks to Grafton Village Cheese, which hosted a field trip on cheesemaking; Commonwealth Dairy, which showed students how yogurt is manufactured, and the Scott Farm and Bunker Farm, which hosted field trips on farm production methods.
Chef Tristan Toleno, lead instructor, was outstanding in his overall instructional and coaching leadership of the group. Vicki Friedman and Bobbie Groves worked with the interns as the program's job coaches.
We look forward to following the career progress of all the participants!