Professional Development for High School Instructors:

Connecting Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management with Sustainable Agriculture Systems

The primary goal of this project is to increase the number of secondary educational instructors trained in food and agricultural sciences. This project shows culinary and hospitality instructors how to integrate agricultural literacy, agricultural concepts, and sustainability into their classes. The School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management at New Mexico State University developed five online course with in-person immersive summer workshops for high school culinary arts and hospitality instructors. The five courses were 1) Introduction to Agriculture and Culinary Connections, 2) Purchasing and Supply Chain Management with Emphasis on Local and Sustainable foods, 3) Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle in Foodservice and Hotels, 4) Agricultural Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and 5) Agricultural, Culinary, and Rural Tourism. They focused on ensuring the next generation of culinarians and hospitality managers have the skills needed to effectively and responsibly use resources from the producer to the end-user and consumers.

Sixty-six teachers from 13 states divided into three cohorts took at least one course, 51 attended one of the immersive workshops, and 42 completed all the courses. Please explore this website, especially the Grant Resources and Lesson Plan tabs, to learn more about the course topics and view lesson plans available to use in any culinary, hospitality, or family and consumer sciences classroom. 

We may be able to offer another class and workshop in Spring & Summer 2027. To express your interest in participating if they become available and to make suggestions on resources you would like to see on our website, please scan this QR code and complete a short survey.

This work is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, AFRI Agricultural Workforce Training Priority Area, award #2023-67037-39940.

For any questions please contact Dr. Jean Hertzman at jhertzma@nmsu.edu, 575-646-4786