Farm To Table® Experience

Escoffier takes students beyond the kitchen to visit farms, ranches, & artisans—connecting students to the roots of food & the people who bring it to life.

Begin Your Journey

Enrich Your Culinary Education with Farm to Table^®

As part of our Austin and Boulder campus Culinary Arts programs, students participate in a 6-week course working alongside farmers & artisans who open their homes and hearts to share how food is grown and raised.

Why Farm To Table^® Matters

Sustainable Food Knowledge
Get a hands-on look at how food is grown, raised, or harvested, and how these methods shape cuisine.
Community Impact
Support local producers and food systems while practicing sourcing methods directly with them.
Seasonal Menu Development
Turn freshly harvested ingredients into seasonal menus that adapt to what’s currently in season.

Three Escoffier culinary students working together to dig in a farm field with mountains in the background.

A Firsthand Look at the Farm To Table^® Experience

Farm To Table^® Immersion Events for Online Students

Join optional, in-person experiences designed to complement your online learning with real-world practice.
Get your hands dirty with ingredient sourcing at local farms, ranches, orchards, vineyards, and artisan operations.
No grades, just growth. These immersive events are not for credit, but they can offer insight, connection, and unforgettable hands-on learning.
SEE UPCOMING EVENTS

a young man in a hat smiling while holding a dark brown sheep outdoors on a sunny farm

Begin Your Journey

Harvest & Ingredient Collection

Collect or harvest foods from local farms or ranches with a professional grower. Depending on seasonality, ingredients may be brought back to the classroom or provided by a local purveyor for lab use.

Close-up of an Escoffier culinary student's hand holding freshly harvested red beets in a farm garden setting

Sourcing & Sustainability

Explore a variety of farming methods, and how sourcing choices—land or sea-based, traditional or modern—affect both food quality and the planet.

Vintage red Farmall tractor parked in a green field with the Rocky Mountains in the background

Execute a Catered Event

Participate in crafting a catered event using the harvested ingredients, tying together lessons from both the field and the kitchen.

Discover the dedication of family farmers and ranchers as you explore sustainable practices—from seeding and transplanting to hydroponics, hoop houses, and greenhouses.

Tend to chickens and gather eggs, milk goats or cows and process the fresh dairy into cheeses and butter in this portion of the experience.

We partner with a number
of local artisans so students can explore Farm To Table® with everything from homemade charcuterie and sausage making to brewing and more.

*A student may not participate in all of the farm activities presented due to time of year, location, and requirements for farmers and artisans.

Begin Your Journey

A few things that Escoffier schools provide that stand out to me are the farm-to-table experience. Farm-to-table practices and sustainability are very important in the food wine world. It’s about allowing the chef to get the best product within hours out of the ground which is important.”*

Chef Curtis DuffyMichelin Star Chef & Restaurateur, Escoffier Advisory Committee Member

One of the huge deciding factors for me to choose Escoffier over other schools was the farm-to-table section available to us here. Studying farms in Colorado was something I decided was absolutely necessary for my education. I didn’t want to go somewhere if they didn’t want to talk about it.”*

Kadie SardoBoulder Culinary Arts Graduate, Bakery Chef at Give Thanks Bakery

*This information may not reflect every student’s experience. Results and outcomes may be based on several factors such as geographical region or previous experience.