VoCul, our Vocational Culinary Training program, aims to increase the amount of healthy, locally-sourced, scratch-cooked meals in various foodservice operations by training individuals seeking culinary careers. This 14-week vocational training program supports the workforce, entrepreneurial and institutional foodservice operations, and our regional farm economy.

Under the guidance of Chef Lachelle Cunningham, Jamal Hashi, and Jenny Breen, trainees learn about food safety (ServSafe certification included), nutrition, seasonality, large-batch scratch cooking, how to use industrial equipment, and more. The first ten weeks of the program consist of in-person lectures and labs in a commercial kitchen in St. Paul. An optional four-week internship follows at one of our partnering kitchens. 

VoCul is a pilot program of The Good Acre, in partnership with Casa de Esperanza. If you are affiliated with a community organization interested in being a VoCul program partner in the future, please APPLY HERE.

During the internship phase of this pilot program, participants are invited to intern with our partners who currently include: Hopkins Area Schools, Great River School, Chowgirls Catering, and Eat for Equity. APPLY HERE to be a host site for interns in the future.

Applications for Cohort 4 are now closed and we will begin training in August of 2022. Please fill out our interest form to be notified when applications for the next cohort are open.

Time Commitment: 28 hours per week for all 10 weeks of the program, internship is optional.

• 10-week Training Phase includes in-person lectures and cooking labs, and flexible remote work tasks.
• 4-week optional Internship Phase includes 112 hours of on-the-job training in a partnering kitchen
• Graduation – Takes place during the final week of the internship

For the well-being and accommodation of all program faculty and participants, the VoCul program has been designed to be flexible to different schedules and personal circumstances. Training is delivered in a combination of formats:

• Weekly in-person lectures.
• Weekly in-person cooking labs (two full days) in a local commercial kitchen on Mondays and Wednesdays from 7:30a – 3p.
• Web-based components can be completed remotely with a high-speed internet connection through the online class portal. 
• Internships take place at various kitchen locations in the Twin Cities metro area. Each intern completes their optional internship for up to 112 hours at one site.

Yes!

Participants are paid a weekly stipend of $420 per week with good attendance.

All kitchen equipment and recipe ingredients needed for in-person labs are provided by The Good Acre. This includes knives, smallwares, and larger equipment and appliances. TGA also provides textbooks for ServSafe certification, a chef’s coat for each graduate, and aprons to use while in the kitchen.

VoCul has extra transportation and/or child care funds available for participants to attend online and in-person training sessions. These additional funds are available by request. Students should contact the instructor directly to learn more about the request and approval process.

Applicants must:

• Be 18 years of age or older
• Have valid identification, as required by the I-9 form
• Have a high school diploma or equivalency

Note: while our intention is to remove as many barriers as possible to training and employment opportunities, it is possible that some results of background investigations could deem an applicant ineligible for employment in school kitchens.

No.

Participants will graduate with the skills necessary to start a culinary career. Our goal is to educate, empower, and equip participants with culinary and job readiness skills. We collaborate with our program partners to create pathways to employment when possible. However, job placement depends on employer needs at the time of graduation, and VoCul graduates must go through the employers application process. We will gladly provide a professional reference by request.