丁香园AV

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

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

鈥淔ood 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,鈥� 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 Culinary Arts program.

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

Already plans are underway for a partnership between Camosun Culinary Arts and the Mustard Seed. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e creating a production kitchen and bringing in 55,000 pounds each week of less than perfect looking produce from local Thrifty Foods stores,鈥� he explains. 鈥淥ur 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.鈥�

Around Camosun鈥檚 Interurban campus, Walker-Duncan highlights the importance of healthy local produce. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got two edible gardens that our students use in their cooking,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd this year we started a 鈥榤ini farmers market鈥� in the cafeteria where we鈥檙e selling bunches of fresh, local asparagus, chard and other vegetables.鈥�

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鈥檚 hosted Flavours of the West Coast on CHEK TV.

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

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