Covid in the kitchen

Q: What do you generally hope for students to get out of your class?

 A: My hope is that I have fostered a continued love for cooking and a passion for food. I hope they are students who want to learn more about food and spark their interest. This is a valuable lesson that you are going to use for your entire life.

Q: What’s the most important thing in reaching that goal?

 A: Above and beyond anything it truly is a life skill you need to have and will help you get through everyday life.

Q: How have Covid procedures affected your daily classroom schedule? 

A: In the beginning, we had to separate all the utensils and students were not allowed to use the same one, but this year we are able to share equipment and space wearing a mask. I have to be much more cautious about the students sampling the food and being six feet apart. The price of food has skyrocketed so we have to switch up some of the recipes because of the cost alone. Finding to-go containers right now is nearly impossible.

Daily kitchen procedures and how COVID has affected each of these

1. Sanitation: It’s done more frequently even when it’s not necessary 
2. Buying gloves: Gloves have now tripled in price
3. Laundry: I do more laundry here than at home, the washer and dryer never stops moving 
4. Serving food: Using a lot more to-go containers, and students have to switch out gloves much more frequently 
5. Tasting food: Oh my gosh it’s miserable we’re supposed to taste everything to make changes which forces us remove our mask which requires more distancing

(insert photo of the kitchen) + add caption describing the photo

Covid has had a huge influence in everyday life, especially in schools; the procedures can be a lot to handle, even in a low contact environment. But in a classroom environment in which food is involved- the rules are tighter, and the risk of spreading is heightened. Nonetheless, Chev V tries to foster a love for the kitchen in her students.