Culinary students cook at Burlington food shelf
By Matt Ryan, Free Press Staff Writer • Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Photo Credit: GLENN RUSSELL, Burlington Free Press
“I’ve been through a lot,” Ramadanovic said. “Coming here every day meant so much to me.”
The 21-year old Bosnian refugee described life at home as “chaos.” She found refuge in the kitchen at the food shelf, where during the past 14 weeks she and four other students cut their teeth preparing food.
They graduated Monday from Community Kitchen, a program designed to train unemployed and underemployed Vermonters in the culinary arts. About 40 people attended their graduation ceremony at the food shelf.
Through the program, the graduates learned more than 200 recipes, prepared 1,828 pounds of food, and became certified to tend bar in Vermont, and administer first aid and CPR. They also passed a ServSafe aptitude test, administered by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation.
“I’m hoping to get a job and work as a cook, and get my life together,” Ramadanovic said. “I’d like to work in a restaurant, and one day, some day, open a restaurant.”
Graduate Shaun Kastner starts his new job today cooking for the Winooski School District. Kastner, 29, received a raucous round of applause when he walked to the podium to receive his graduation certificate. About a dozen relatives cheered him on, including his mom, who completed the program’s previous training cycle.
Kastner said he has worked at Dunkin’ Donuts and Vermont Teddy Bear Co. but wanted “something better,” perhaps a career in the kitchen.
Since January 2009, the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf, in collaboration with the Vermont Foodbank, has sent five classes through the program. Of the graduates, 92 percent have found jobs, said Rob Meehan, executive director for the food shelf. Many go on to cook for the New England Culinary Institute, he said.
“When they show up for an entry-level position, they’re way more than qualified,” he said.
Brian Dermody and Jamie Eisenberg instructed the course. Eisenberg dubbed Monday’s graduating class “Community Kitchen Survivor Island,” because half the original 10 students dropped out along the way.
John Sayles, CEO of the Barre-based Vermont Foodbank, said the partnership with Burlington’s food shelf gives the program room to grow.
“Our facility is sort of off the beaten path,” Sayles said. “We’re fortunate to have a good relationship with the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf.”
The program receives most of its funding through grants, he said.
Diane Raza-Butler, 55, volunteered to serve breakfast at the food shelf before enrolling in the program.
“I never graduated from anything in my life,” Raza-Butler said. “It’s been an unbelievable journey, and I can’t believe it’s over.”
Raza-Butler, who recently became a grandmother and sold her Ferrisburgh home, has started interviewing for jobs.
“I’m at a great place in my life,” she said. “It was time for me to do something else.”
Contact Matt Ryan at 651-4849 or To have Free Press headlines delivered free to your e-mail, sign up at www.burlingtonfreepress.com/newsletters.
This story appeared on page B2 of Tuesday’s Burlington Free Press
Read more: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100824/NEWS02/100823032/Culinary-students-cook-at-Burlington-food-shelf#ixzz0xX4w2LiJ
