OCTOBER 2019 MARKETPLACECONTRACOSTA.COM 33
Since 2007, West County
DIGS has supported school
gardens by providing resources
and partnering with teachers
to promote environmental
awareness in the West Contra
Costa Unified School District.
The Plant to Plate Internship
Program, which is only in its
fourth year, expands the focus
on gardening to include many
additional learning opportunities
for its participants. Student interns
not only learn about organic
gardening from planting seeds
through the harvest but are also
taught essential culinary arts skills
by some exceptional chefs. The
program also includes instruction
about important job and life skills that are transferrable
to most professions, such as resume writing, mentorship,
and networking, which are essential to advancing their
employment opportunities.
The Plant to Plate program was initially a collaborative
effort between Molly Wahl, an employee of West
County DIGS, and Kelli Barram, a Master Gardener
who has taught students gardening skills and the
essentials of healthy nutrition for almost a decade. Kelli
worked as a Garden Education Specialist at Washington
Elementary School in Point Richmond and currently
works for St. Mary’s College of California as the Garden
Manager/Coordinator. Chef Arnon Oren, Master Chef
and owner of Oren’s Kitchen, Anaviv’s Catering &
Events, and Anaviv’s Table restaurant (featured in the
July 2019 issue of Contra Costa Marketplace.) learned
of Kelli and Molly’s ideas and was eager to participate.
Chef Arnon had relocated his catering business from
Berkeley to Richmond in 2017 and wanted to do
something special to give back to the Richmond
community. With initial seed funding from Chef
Arnon, a grant from the Miranda Lux Foundation
(obtained with assistance from West County DIGS),
and generous donations from customers and corporate
donors, the Plant to Plate Internship program was
successfully launched with the first 15 motivated high
school student recruits.Kelli developed the curriculum
for the program and continues to co-lead the Plant to
Plate Internship program with Chef Arnon.
The Plant to Plate Internship Program is open to
11th and 12th graders (ages 15 – 18) from all West
County high schools. Interested students are invited to
submit applications to participate in the Plant to Plate
program which accepts up to 15 students each school
year. Students selected to participate must commit to
attending two after school sessions weekly on Tuesdays
and Thursdays from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM from October
through April. During these sessions, interns get the
opportunity to work in and urban garden adjacent
to the Craneway Pavillion in Richmond, and receive
hands-on instruction in Chef Arnon’s commercial
kitchen. Students learn to plant a variety of vegetables
from seed under Kelli’s guidance, such as radishes,
zucchinis, cucumbers, and tomatoes. They care for the
plants until they are mature and ready to be harvested,
at which time they use the fresh vegetables to prepare
delicious dishes (which they also get to eat!) Chef
Arnon’s staff of trained chefs is allowed to use their time
to provide hands-on culinary instruction to the Plant to
Plate interns, including the proper handling and usage
of knives and other kitchen tools. As time permits,
Chef Arnon sometimes teaches the interns personally
which he enjoys immensely.
Chef Arnon and Kelli are often assisted by other Anaviv
chefs (including Chef Kadie from Anaviv’s Table) and
guest culinary experts who provide instruction to
the Plant to Plate interns. On at least one occasion,
Chef Arnon invited his friend, Alice Medrich, a wellknown
chef and writer best known for introducing
the chocolate truffle to America, to teach a class on
baking! When the students aren’t tending the garden or
practicing their culinary skills in the kitchen, they are
visited by various community leaders and professionals
INSTAGRAM: @PLANT2PLATEINTERNPROGRAM | KELLI BARRAM AT KELLIBARRAM@GMAIL.COM