Welcome to the Table
Wendell Berry says eating is an agricultural act. That’s a core belief at Sterling College, where all students participate in cultivating a sustainable food system, growing vegetables, poultry, and meat, preparing food for classmates and colleagues, and sharing meals.
Dining at Sterling nourishes the body and soul, and it challenges students to engage with the food they eat. If you’re biting into a dining hall cheeseburger or chicken pot pie, you likely knew the animal that provided the meat. Students raise pigs, chickens, cows, and sheep, and participate in harvesting those animals to feed the Sterling campus. “We create an environment where students can explore the limits of their comfort zones, and not take the easy out,” says Liz Chadwick ‘14, Sterling’s Director of Dining Services.
At Sterling, there are no vending machines on campus. In search of a snack? You’ll find fresh sourdough bread, hummus, cream cheese, and butter in the dining hall 24/7 and students are welcome to raid the leftovers fridge anytime. Milk, juice, coffee, or tea are always available.
Sterling’s mission is inclusivity, whether in the classroom or the kitchen. “We’re crunchy and conventional at the same time,” says Liz. Granola and Froot Loops sit next to each other on the breakfast bar. If there’s a food you need to be happy or satisfied, the kitchen tries to have it on hand.
If the weekend brunch schedule doesn’t align with your sleep, study, social, or sports needs, don’t worry. Every dorm has at least one kitchen, and the campus kitchen stocks it with basics at students’ request. Have specific dietary needs? Whether you’re vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, or have another dietary restriction, you’ll never feel like your meal is an afterthought. The kitchen team prioritizes students’ needs.
Hankering for a favorite recipe from home? Slip a suggestion or a request into the “suggestion dinosaur”–Sterling’s kitchen suggestion box–and you may find yourself with your sleeves rolled up, and flour to your elbows, helping prepare your grandmother’s famous apple crisp, or that Masala curry your mom always made.
Sit down for breakfast, l unch, or dinner in the College’s dining hall, and you’re with your peers. 100% of the student body is on the meal plan at Sterling. Faculty and staff and their families eat there too. And friends and colleagues are always welcome. Staff and students agree that a lot of the best ideas come from shared meals.
In Sterling’s kitchen, you’re always at home.
The kitchen is the keystone of Sterling College. All students are part of Sterling’s sustainable food systems, through farming, cooking, and eating. The curricular system and the kitchen are inextricably linked. So when we say that at Sterling, everyone has a seat at the table, we mean it literally.
There is nothing institutional about cooking or eating at Sterling College. The College prides itself on local, healthy food made with love. Everyone at Sterling is part of that equation. The kitchen is cooperative and collaborative, students have a say, and dialogue is welcome.
The kitchen is a gathering space and a healing space. It sustains and nourishes the Sterling community, and it provides a place to gather. Any student is welcome in Sterling’s kitchen, anytime. Pull up a bench and chat, ponder world politics, or feed your soul in the warmth only a kitchen can provide.
The kitchen isn’t just open to students, it’s open to the community. Students stand shoulder to shoulder with staff to cook and serve meals. They also work together with organizations like the Hardwick Food Pantry to make Pies for the People, which the pantry distributes free throughout Craftsbury at Thanksgiving.
Sunday brunch is student-run, from the crepes to the mezze bar. The menu varies based on students’ interests. Recent Sunday brunches included dim sum and a “schmutz and schmear” bagel bar.
Many alumnx say their fondest memories are of the Sterling kitchen. “Sure, we’re a kitchen, and we cut vegetables,” says Liz. “But we’re a place to gather, to talk, and also to feed people’s bodies and souls.”