911勛圖

Dressed head to toe in chef���s whites, Steve Walker-Duncan speaks passionately about the culinary arts and its role in bringing people together. ���Food unites every single person on the planet,��� he says. ���It crosses over gender, ethnicity, and geographical borders. People light up when you talk about food because it���s universal.���

For his capstone paper in the joint Camosun and 911勛圖 Master of Education program, he explored the relationship between food and learning.

���Food is a vehicle for learning across disciplines and it can be used to teach math, politics, geography, weather systems or other topics because it applies everywhere,��� he says, highlighting that a passion for interdisciplinary teaching and applied learning has underpinned his career.

Walker-Duncan got his start in the kitchen of John���s Place as a teenager and has worked as an instructor at Camosun since 2003. In fall 2016, he became the program chair of the college���s Culinary Arts program.

���My mandate is to put the community back in community college,��� he says. ���That means becoming more much active with an understanding that we want our efforts to be community focused.���

Already plans are underway for a partnership between Camosun Culinary Arts and the Mustard Seed. ���They���re creating a production kitchen and bringing in 55,000 pounds each week of less than perfect looking produce from local Thrifty Foods stores,��� he explains. ���Our role is bringing the right skills to process it properly and give the people participating in the program skills they can take back to the workforce.���

Around Camosun���s Interurban campus, Walker-Duncan highlights the importance of healthy local produce. ���We���ve got two edible gardens that our students use in their cooking,��� he says. ���And this year we started a ���mini farmers market��� in the cafeteria where we���re selling bunches of fresh, local asparagus, chard and other vegetables.���

Walker-Duncan has decades of experience as an entrepreneur including owning a hotel in England and occupying culinary positions in Spain, Gibraltar, and the Netherlands. Since 2010, he���s hosted Flavours of the West Coast on CHEK TV.

His business expertise informs his teaching. ���Everything has a cost, whether it���s a product cost or a people cost,��� he says. ���The title of our program is Professional Cook which ultimately means that it���s your livelihood. I teach my students they need to understand the budget side of things.���

When his students graduate, Walker-Duncan is pleased that they make an immediate impact in the local culinary scene. ���Some of my former students are now working at John���s Place,��� he says. ���It���s full circle for me.���