{"id":2484,"date":"2018-01-29T17:50:33","date_gmt":"2018-01-29T17:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=2484"},"modified":"2018-01-29T17:50:33","modified_gmt":"2018-01-29T17:50:33","slug":"tstc-agriculture-and-culinary-students-plant-seeds-of-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=2484","title":{"rendered":"TSTC Agriculture and Culinary Students Plant Seeds of Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – More than 1,700 pounds of potatoes were planted on a chilly and wet Wednesday afternoon by nearly 30 Texas State Technical College Agricultural Technology and Culinary Arts students.<\/p>\n

The farm-to-table partnership between the departments brings both programs together so that students can get different perspectives of the food business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project is an effort to continue working closely with Culinary Arts on our farm-to-table initiative,\u201d said Agricultural Technology Instructor Norberto Mendoza. \u201cIt\u2019s great to open our students\u2019 eyes to new experiences and opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both programs have been working together on this concept for nearly a year, and although culinary students have already helped to harvest vegetables and fruits, this is the first time they have helped to plant them.<\/p>\n

The farm-to-table project gives the agriculture students the chance to give what they have grown to the culinary students to use in their kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of our goals as our partnership grew was to include Culinary in the planting process,\u201d said TSTC Culinary Arts Instructor Emma Creps. \u201cI\u2019m excited to give my students this opportunity, and they\u2019re excited for the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

The students who participated in Wednesday\u2019s potato planting are from the Agricultural Technology Crop Science and Culinary Arts Food Prep I classes.\"TSTC<\/a><\/p>\n

Everything from potato cutting and treatment to planting on a one-acre lot used by Agricultural Technology was handled by the students under their instructors\u2019 guidance.<\/p>\n

Agricultural Technology student Irene Loya said this by far has been one of her favorite projects.<\/p>\n

Loya, who will graduate with an associate degree from the program in Spring 2019, is already farming vegetables, fruits and various peppers, as well as growing flowering plants such as lilies, lavenders and roses.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting to be given this type of hands-on, real-world training. I know for a fact I could not get this anywhere else,\u201d said Loya. \u201cEverything I\u2019m doing I can relate to what I am doing and want to do in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loya said opportunities like this one give her a chance to build relationships and network with people who she might work with someday. She added that she hopes to grow her farming business once she completes her degree.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, we\u2019re all here to learn from each other and help in any way we can,\u201d she said. \u201cIt just opens doors to many more opportunities that will be beneficial to all of us in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mendoza and Creps agree that this partnership is helping them create well-rounded students who will appreciate the processes that make the food business successful.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want my students to know where the food they cook comes from and appreciate the process that happens before they get it in the kitchen,\u201d said Creps.<\/p>\n

She added that many of her students go on to work at or open restaurants or build catering businesses, and having an understanding of farm-to-table and its processes makes a huge difference in their success.<\/p>\n

Culinary Arts second-semester student Griselda Medina said she is already preparing a space in her backyard for a small vegetable and fruit garden and that this opportunity has opened her eyes to a whole new world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI already love nature and what it provides for us,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m not afraid of a little dirt. I\u2019d rather know where my food is coming from and what I\u2019m putting into my body and that of my family and, someday, customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said being able to plant the potato and seeing it grow over time is something beautiful because it is food that is straight from the earth and natural.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is so exciting for me, and I\u2019m glad our instructors have given us this type of opportunity,\u201d said Medina. \u201cThis project lets me know that I am definitely on the right path in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

In late May the students will have another opportunity to come together over potatoes when harvesting begins. In the meantime, Culinary Arts will keep cooking and serving the vegetables and fruits that Agricultural Technology provides.<\/p>\n

For more information about TSTC Agricultural Technology and Culinary Arts, visit tstc.edu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – More than 1,700 pounds of potatoes were planted on a chilly and wet Wednesday afternoon by nearly 30 Texas State Technical College Agricultural Technology and Culinary Arts students. The farm-to-table partnership between the departments brings both programs together so that students can get different perspectives of the food business. \u201cThis project is an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-harlingen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2484"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2486,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2484\/revisions\/2486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}