VoCul

Culinary instruction for a meaningful career.

At The Good Acre, we take a holistic approach to solving critical gaps in our regional food system. We’ve learned that to build a successful and sustainable farm to school program, we need to address a key barrier schools face in implementing scratch cooking in their kitchens— a shortage of skilled labor.  The VoCul program trains aspiring culinary professionals in seasonality and sustainability, as well as offers students a solid foundation in cooking good food from scratch.

School Chef

Program Goals

Chef
Encourage more people to pursue careers in culinary arts
food tray
Increase the number of healthy food options available in food service operations across the Twin Cities
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Enable foodservice operations to source more food that is local and in season

VoCul is moving to Healthy Roots Institute!

Chef Lachelle Cunningham founded the Healthy Roots Institute in 2018, with a mission focused on healing and social justice through food, culinary arts, and workforce development. “Building the VoCul program and now having it transition to HRI is a huge step in bringing my vision to fruition,” says Lachelle.

For Participants

Applications to participate in VoCul are now closed. Please click the button below to fill out our interest form and we will notify you when applications are live for our next cohort. 

For Partners

If you are a K-12 school interested in hiring skilled culinary workers or a community organization representing clients in need of employment, apply to be a partner.

Program Partners

Casa de Esperanza logo
Chowgirls logo
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Eat for Equity logo
Great River School logo
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Accreditation

ACFEF logo

VoCul is made possible with funding from the Cargill Foundation. The program is ACFEF-accredited for delivering high standards in culinary arts education.

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