Many things have changed on this campus since the COVID-19 pandemic. To comply with sanitary and safety measures, multiple activities had to be cancelled or put on hold. While many of these have since restarted, such as I-House in-person teatime, Fall and Spring Fest and more, some have yet to make their reappearance on our campus.
Wednesday, March 27 will mark the return of one of these well-loved and much missed activities at SLU: Dining-Services cooking classes. Cooking events held in the past included a sushi-making workshop and an international cuisine event. This time around, the events will be meant as a more permanent fixture to campus life.
The return of the cooking classes is due to a student-led effort of members of the GS 264: Global Public Health Class. The students hope that this activity, while adding dynamism to campus, will also provide students with resources to gain cooking skills, learn more about nutrition and create fulfilling meals with resources that are either inexpensive or available on meal plans. Eryn Kaloustian, one of the students behind this project, says, “I think it’s important that we host this event because gaining basic knowledge about cooking is a skill you can use for the rest of your life, and it’s never too early to learn that skill.” To this, Alex Hansson adds that “within our research, we hope to provide and support SLU students with broadened accessibility to nutritional foods right here on campus, and to begin new nutritional habits with the knowledge presented through our cooking classes. Every student deserves the opportunity for quality nutritional foods, regardless of their meal plan.”
Specific activities will vary from class to class and will entail exercises such as learning knife techniques, choosing produce, making vegan and vegetarian meals and more. The trial class will be held on March 27 at 5:00 pm in the Eben Holden kitchen under the supervision of Dining Services staff. The topic of the event is still to be determined. Following the class, students will be invited to participate in an open discussion on topics such as the SLU meal plan, ideas to better student nutritional options, and feedback for future classes.
Students will be invited to sign up for the event in the following days, so keep an eye out for the invite! Additionally, any students interested in taking up the initiative for the year 2022-2023 is invited to contact us @edubo18@stlawu.edu .