Rehabilitation

Latest cohort graduates CMC culinary program

An incarcerated person in the culinary program at CMC hands food to a person waiting in line.

The 23rd cohort of the Culinary Arts Program offered by Cuesta College and California Men’s Colony (CMC) graduated March 19.

Since 2017, Cuesta College has partnered with CMC to offer the program in the Camp Cuesta yard.

Incarcerated students graduate the culinary program at CMC.

The individuals who completed the program spent the course working hands-on in a commercial kitchen, building real culinary skills and earning their ServSafe certification.

Graduates of the program are eligible for assignment to Mobile Kitchen Units (MKUs), where they support large-scale feeding operations during emergency incidents throughout California. The program also gives them practical skills they can use upon release.

Graduates hold their food safety certifications at CMC.

“Those involved in the program take pride in what they do,” said instructors. “It shows in the effort they put in and the way they carry themselves by the end of the course.”

Submitted by Lt. M. Blankenship


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