Sustenance and Sustainability

14 NOV 2022

Sustenance and Sustainability

FALL 2022

A SEASONAL NEWSLETTER CELEBRATING DALTON'S CULINARY AND SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES

Plants and sustainability connection

By David Lindo, Sustainability Coordinator A popular Chinese proverb says: The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago, the second best time is now. Recent research shows that ​investing in plants results in sustainable cities with happier and healthier people (Li et al. 2018). With relatively small input and energy, the effects of plant on (1) health and social wellbeing, (2) cognitive development and education, (3) economy and resources, (4) climate change mitigation and habitat, and (5) green infrastructure can be profound in the long term. The United Nation's New Urban Agenda, created to promote the development of sustainable cities, stresses the importance of green and quality public spaces, as well as green infrastructure (United Nations, 2017).

At Dalton, we are aware of the connection between plants, sustainability and their effect on health and social well-being. As a consequence, we are launching a new initiative called the Herb of the Month. High School students are planting herbs on the green towers on the 14th floor to be used for cooking in the kitchen. If you are interested in planting your own herb and sharing it with the community, please reach out to Alexander Berman, Isabella Graham and CC the Sustainability Coordinator Dr. Lindo. If you are interested in cloning that initiative to First Programs and Middle School, please reach out to Liam Johnson-Hill Li, D., Deal, B., Zhou, X., Slavenas, M., & Sullivan, W. C. (2018).

Moving beyond the neighborhood: Daily exposure to nature and adolescents' mood. Landscape and Urban Planning, 173, 33–43.

Turner‐Skoff, J. B., & Cavender, N. (2019). The benefits of trees for livable and sustainable communities. Plants, People, Planet, 1(4), 323-335.

United Nations. (2017). A new urban agenda. A/RES/71/256.

Allora Pasta's Lemon & Ricotta Filling Please enjoy this recipe from recent guest chef Cameo Fucci, owner and Chef of Allora Pasta Co. 4 cups ricotta cheese 1 whole lemon, zest and juice 1.5 tsp salt 1/2 tsp crushed black pepper This first step to strain the ricotta is not always necessary but creates a much less runny ricotta for our filling.

1. Place a fine mesh strainer over a small bowl, and line it with cheesecloth. Add the ricotta, and using a rubber spatula, gently push and spread the ricotta into an even layer. Loosely cover the ricotta with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel and add some weight to it to speed up the straining process. I like to use a few large cans of crushed tomatoes. Let this chill in the refrigerator overnight or at least 8 hours.

2. Discard the accumulated liquid in the bowl and now you're ready to rock!

3. Add your strained ricotta to a medium sized mixing bowl along with your lemon zest & juice, salt and black pepper.

4. Mix thoroughly with a rubber spatula and taste for seasoning. If you'd like more lemon, feel free to add more zest. Try and refrain from adding any more juice as this can cause the ricotta to become too wet.

Use this filling for filled pasta, lasagna, or to top your pasta with!

Upcoming Events 12/2 Sustainability Movie and Meal On November 18 at 6 pm, we will host the screening of a sustainable related movie. This hour and a half movie opens up interesting conversations about sentient wildlife and sustainable seafood. We will enjoy a vegetable meatball dinner on 14th before the movie and share our thoughts after the movie. That would set the tone for an inspiring and sustainable weekend before Thanksgiving!

12/6 Community Fridge 120 Georgia Boothe is the founder of Community Fridge 120 and if you were to ask her neighbors, they would tell you she is the unofficial mayor of 120th street. She not only has a gift for mobilizing her community, but she has a true talent in the kitchen. With a broad knowledge of different cuisines from her travels around the world, Georgia will be bringing a taste of home to the Dalton Teaching Kitchen.

12/7 PCC Cookies on Wednesday 12/7 The People of Color Collective invites faculty and staff of color to join us on December 8th, 3:30-5pm in the Teaching Kitchen to learn to make delicious winter-time cookies with Chef Jaz.

12/14 Vegetarian Birria Tacos Keesha O’Galdez is a personal chef. She completed the Chef's training program at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Culinary Arts in New York City, focusing on organic, vegetarian, vegan and other health supportive diets. She has graced the kitchens as a Pastry Chef in Smith Canteen in Carroll Gardens Brooklyn, Amy’s Bread, and Smile to Go in Soho and savory as a catering chef at Patina Events. You may have seen Chef Keesha on Food Network’s Chopped.

A note to our Colleagues...

If you are interested in developing a curricular integration in the teaching kitchen, please see the culinary resource page (resources > teaching kitchen). You will find example curricula, links to the form and kitchen schedule, and information about the parameters. More questions? Contact Jaz Johnson, Charlie Stewert, or Cory Cowles to start a discussion or share an idea.

SUSTENANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY | THE DALTON SCHOOL

SUSTENANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY | THE DALTON SCHOOL

A note from Assistant Head of School Celeste Herrera Awareness of our environment, responsibility to others and our planet are deeply connected to Dalton’s mission, which affirms our commitment to “educating the whole child” and to “engage students as participants in a democratic society and global community.” The expansion of our culinary program as a pillar of personal wellbeing and cultural awareness, and its connection to the environmental impact individual and institutional decisions have on our sustainability efforts are closely tied.

I am pleased to highlight and support the work of our colleagues Jaz Johnson, Charlie Stewert, Joaquin Ramsey and Cory Cowles in the Culinary Program and the efforts of David Lindo in his capacity as k12 Sustainability Coordinator. Their collaboration, desire to integrate sustainability work and the teaching kitchen into your classes, clubs and programs, and progress made establishing Dalton as a leader connecting culinary education and sustainability in schools is inspiring.

Ramsey/Kohn House

Recent Curricular Integrations

We had our House make grilled cheese sandwiches during the October Long House. Students traded half-sandwiches and shared with each other how they like to cook them (the raging debate was mayo or butter to toast the bread), what their favorite cheese and sides were, and how to prepare a lactose-free, gluten-free, or vegan grilled cheese (we had options for those students).

It helped our House build community, experience each other's preferences and favorites, and integrate expert ideas (Chef Jaz) into tried and true personal favorites. It also created an environment where advisees had to communicate with each other authentically about what is good, what is hot, who is cooking what and how to clean up a communal mess.

Update from Environmental Club Environment Club has been working on organizing their annual high-school thrift shop event. This event encourages sustainable clothing consumption especially in the age of fast fashion.

TREEage Dalton has been preparing written testimony for city council in support of Local Law 97, which is a bill that regulates the emissions of public and private buildings within NYC.

NYC Air Quality Project Dalton will be participating in a multi-year effort to measure the impact of air quality on educational outcomes (such as attendance and test scores) for students across New York City, and identify the role that building infrastructure can play in protecting students from harmful air quality. This project is an interdisciplinary multi-organization collaboration between Fordham University, Resources for the Future, and three environmental justice/community based organizations: The Point Community Development Center, TREEage and the NY Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU)

Faculty and Staff Cook Along We are kicking off monthly faculty and staff cook along sessions. The kitchen has become an informal place for us all to gather and share a bite. I would like to invite you to share a vegetarian recipe this can be your go-to recipe on a rainy Saturday morning or your favorite holiday dish. I will help you turn this dish into a lesson to cook along with our high school students during flex period/lunchtime.

Keep in mind, like every lesson in the teaching kitchen, the goal is to be able to cook the recipe in completion during our time together, eat, enjoy and clean up.

Contact Chef Jaz to sign up

4th grade students visited the Teaching Kitchen to make a dish inspired by the immigrants they are studying in their Ellis Island unit. Students learned the reasons eastern and southern Europeans chose to leave their homelands for the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, what those journeys were like, and how the immigrants were received in New York Harbor. They also examined the connections immigrants kept to their homelands and the traditions and customs they brought with them. The kitchen provided the perfect opportunity for the students to see, smell, and taste those customs while making a traditional Italian meal: orecchiette with tomato sauce. 4th graders also learned the practical lessons of how to hold a knife and how to appropriately salt the water for boiling pasta. Andrew Preston

Students in Computer Science 0 have been learning the importance of using precise, detailed, and clear instructions, and finding an effective way for humans to communicate with a “computer” or “robot” (a new language!). In the TK, we focused on key programming concepts: instruction sequence, clear communication, and attention to detail.

Students were given a recipe to make lemon curd, however, the instruction sequence was out of order, and some words were jumbled, and only half of each cooking station's group could be in the kitchen at a given time. For each group to succeed in making velvety lemon curd rather than lemony scrambled eggs, students used knowledge shared by Chef Jaz and unscrambled the instructions, and practiced communicating with their teammates as they cooked in "relay" team style. Jessica Valarezo

SUSTENANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY | THE DALTON SCHOOL