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Practicing What They Teach
Department of Hospitality Management faculty members at New York City College of Technology are committed not only to teaching their students about “sustainability,” but to incorporating sustainability-related practices into what students do in their culinary and pastry arts courses.
The department recently leased an organic apple tree from Liberty View Farms in High Falls, New York. For a fee of $50, students and faculty had their choice of either a Cortland or Empire apple tree for the 2008 season. The fee provided the department with access to the farm several times during the growing season and the opportunity to harvest its own apples. That modest investment netted the department 120 pounds of apples in early September.
The apples later were used in the department’s Baking & Pastry II course for a lesson on apple-based desserts. The students baked scrumptious apple tarts that were featured over a two-week period in the department’s Janet Lefler Dining Room laboratory. The apples also were used by students in other culinary, baking and pastry courses to make apple pies and as an ingredient in a variety of dishes. The professor teaching each course in which the apples were used explained to the students where the apples came from and the importance of supporting sustainable practices.
“The owner of Liberty View Farms, Billiam Van Rostenberg, makes it possible for people to see where their food comes from,” says Hospitality Management Lecturer Susan Lifriery-Lowry,” who made a trip to High Falls earlier this fall to replenish the department’s apple supply. “He opens the farm during apple blossom time and again several times during the growing season so that people can visit and be involved with growing some of their own food.
“By opening up the farm, where Van Rostenberg also raises chickens and goats, he is providing urban families with an opportunity to enjoy the countryside and take part in growing and harvesting some of their own produce,” Lifriery-Lowry adds. “Liberty View Farms also operates a roadside stand on weekends and sells fresh eggs and honey that are produced there. It also publishes a newsletter that lists farm events and other sustainability activities throughout the High Falls and New Paltz areas.”
“We’re regular shoppers at the local farmer’s market in Downtown Brooklyn,” says Professor Elizabeth Schaible, department chair, “and are especially delighted to be a part of Liberty View Farms’ upstate effort to enlighten the public about the importance of sustainable farming and sound nutrition.”
11.26.08
