On June 2, Climate Classes partnered with World Central Kitchen to host a cooking class at Common Good City Farm.  Climate Classes, World Central Kitchen, and Common Good City Farm had a detailed agenda for the event, but the early DC summer weather caused plans to change.  Thunderstorms throughout the day almost rained out the event, but there was a great turnout despite the weather.  

The evening kicked off with a presentation about modern methods of agriculture from Climate Classes speaker Thomas Wheet. Josephine Chu, the manager of Common Good City Farm, gave a tour of the farm and answered questions about the farm’s crops, yield, and the community it serves. Common Good City Farm is located in the Shaw neighborhood in Washington, DC, and grows a variety of vegetables and fruit, which the farm sells during a weekly Wednesday market.

While the original plan for the event was for attendees to cook alongside World Central Kitchen chef Mollie Kauffman, the refrigeration system at Common Good City Farm was unavailable due to the weeklong heat wave, and the substitute refrigerator was too cold for the produce set aside for the class.  But as the saying goes–or should go–when life hands you frozen lemons, don’t cook with them, and opt for a cooking demonstration instead. Chef Mollie led a cooking demonstration during which she shared some cooking hacks and delicious summer recipes (check out the ice cream recipe in our newsletter and on our website!) She also gave attendees insight into her day-to-day as a World Central Kitchen chef, including the logistics of getting water to certain hard-to-reach cooking locations and preparing food to match the diets of the many different populations she has served. 

The event wrapped up with Josephine Chu answering attendees’ questions about the farm’s composting system and how attendees could begin composting in their own homes.  One attendee even won a countertop compost bin. 

Climate Classes it looking forward to its fall cooking demonstration–and we hope even more of you will be able to join us this time around!