Otago Polytechnic learners cook up a storm catering to students in isolation

A group of Otago Polytechnic learners is catering – literally – to the culinary needs of fellow Dunedin students isolating because of Covid.

Otago Polytechnic third-year Bachelor of Culinary Arts learners have developed a student-focused smorgasbord comprising no fewer than 14 dishes, ranging from pumpkin and kumara soup to chicken and tofu pad Thai. There are also vegan and gluten-free options, included a gluten-free chocolate self-saucing pudding.

In total, the team is aiming to produce, pack and freeze 1000 meals, which will be delivered to learners by Otago Polytechnic’s Student Success team and others.

“We are now starting to pack and freeze the meals,” says Otago Polytechnic Bachelor of Culinary Arts Senior Lecturer Tony Heptinstall.

“We have used this opportunity to continue our on-campus teaching. We had a class last week with both on-campus and online students in isolation and the challenge was to come up with a range of dishes that would appeal to students. There are currently 14 different meal options.

“The students are getting a unique opportunity to produce food in bulk and examine their processes. They are able to incorporate all this learning into the formal assessment for our third-year Bachelor of Culinary Arts programme.”

As Dr Adrian Woodhouse, Head of Culinary Arts and Food Design, notes: “Despite the Covid context, this illustrates a typical strength of our teaching approach, which is quickly repositioning our students’ learning activities to embrace the needs of the community.”