Learning life-long skills: Catawba students get food-prep crash course
Published 12:05 am Thursday, September 28, 2023
Kevin Plante, Catawba College director of dining services, second from right, instructs a student during a motor skills lab on Wednesday. - Chandler Inions
Catawba College exercise science students chop onions and carrots in a motor skills lab. - Chandler Inions
Kevin Plante, Catawba College director of dining services, demostrates how to peel a potato during a lab on campus Wednesday. - Chandler Inions
Catawba College students participate in a motor skills lab involving chopping vegetables and other produce on Wednesday. - Chandler Inions
A Catawba College student passes the peppers to another classmate during a lab on campus Wednesday. - Chandler Inions
SALISBURY — Exercise science students at Catawba College got a hands-on look at meal prep on Wednesday during a motor skills lab in Ketner Cafeteria.
Kevin Plante, the Catawba College director of dining services, showed students how to dice onions without crying, peel a potato and clean a green pepper for dishes.
Plante’s culinary prowess has taken him around the U.S., working in Los Angeles for major production companies that would host catered events before relocating to the Charlotte area and taking over the kitchen at Catawba.
The lab was coordinated by Professor Ryan Fairall, who said he tries to find ways to make his material more experiential than simply rote knowledge.
“Many of my students are athletes, so I try to think outside the box, not just exercise or sports, something they can use for the rest of their lives,” Fairall said. “That is how I came up with this lab with all the different knife cuts.”
While slicing methods varied from produce to produce, the general concepts were universal.
“They will learn this as a fine motor skill to use for the rest of their lives,” Fairall said. “Hopefully, down the line, when they are cutting vegetables in their 20s and 30s, this lab will come up.”
Following the lab, the prepped produce will be donated to Rowan Helping Ministries to be used in their cafeteria. Fairall said the food was donated from Food Lion’s store No.1, located near campus on Mahaley Avenue.
He said that when he approached the store manager about the idea, the latter was gung-ho to be involved.
During a Healthy Rowan meeting Fairall attended earlier in the week, one member asked if her son could participate in the lab. Unfortunately, liability issues prevented the attendance from exceeding the students in the class.
During the lab, the students would learn how to cut properly and explore food sanitation and safety.
Fairall said that the students wouldn’t have to worry about seeing a question from the lab on a pop quiz, though.
“When we do lab activities, I am all about being in the moment,” Fairall said. “I am all about experiential learning.”
Second-year junior Bryson Sims was among the students in the lab.
“I love to cook, but in the dorms, we are very limited,” Sims said. “We don’t have ovens. Most of the things we would like to cook with are off-limits. If you have a flat or air fryer, they are not allowed because they are dangerous.”
Although the campus-imposed restrictions make things difficult, Sims said he has long enjoyed making breakfast.
“I love to cook eggs in the morning, breakfast sandwiches and bagels,” Sims said.
If he was whipping up something for date night, Sims said he would probably make some pasta.
“I grew up on pasta a lot,” Sims said. “My mom made lasagna all the time. Her lasagna was always pretty impressive, so I feel like that is something I could make.”
Thanks to the lab, Sims will be a little more experienced next time he finds himself in the kitchen.
