Jon Coady Serves the Vegans and the Carnivores
Oct. 10, 2008 -- Jon Coady prepares meals for a wide range of people at Western State College; from the organic vegetarian to the T-bone steak eating carnivore.
Jeff Petermann, a WSC senior (left) and Jon Coady (right) prepare an "all local" meal
Sometimes Coady, who is the General Manager for the Keating Dining Hall, will cook for such diverse appetites in the same day. In September he volunteered his time to prep an all local meal at the High Country Citizens Alliance's Sustainability Communities Symposium during the day and later that evening led his staff in serving a steak dinner for 275 people at the Athletic Department's Mountaineer Hall of Fame banquet.
That Friday, Keating Dining Hall also served 1500 meals for 800 students.
"We were stretched to the limit that day," Coady said.
Coady, who has won the "Iron Chef" competition, a fundraiser for the Center for the Arts in Crested Butte "loves to cook." He also grows "more and more every season" at the garden at his residence in Gunnison, where he lives with his wife.
He has also taken an interest in the Community Garden on the campus at Western, which is located between Coronado and Beckwith Halls; a short walk from Keating. Earlier in the school year he volunteered to prepare some food from the garden at the first annual "Green Labor Day Weekend Challenge" at Western. He estimates that he could have fed 60 people from the harvest.
"The Garden" as it is known on campus, produces: carrots, potatoes, salad greens, peas, garlic, onions and more. The idea to "grow our own" has been talked about frequently amongst the campus community and Coady is supportive. However, he is quick to point out the many obstacles that would be faced. "The majority of the growing season here is when school is not in session," he said.
He also added that there are liability issues of producing food. Coady notes that greenhouses would have to be implemented and that if food cultivation would occur at Western it "would be awesome."
Coady also added that while students claim to want more local healthy options, "They still eat a lot of pizza and hamburgers every day."
Still Coady wants the food services at Western to, "serve campus the best we can. We want to be on the cutting
edge of what students want."
Story by: Luke Mehall, assistant director of public relations
