Hands chopping a pepper on a cutting board next to a sheet pan of colorful vegetables

Community Kitchen Academy


Our Barre location hosts a workforce development and training program where participants gain skills and can forge a path to a good job in the food service industry. Turn your love of cooking and collaborating into a career while creating nutritious meals from rescued food for Capstone’s food shelf.

A person carrying stalks of chard in a garden


In addition to the training, CKA performs another important function: rescuing produce, meat and foods that would otherwise be wasted from grocery stores, restaurants, local farms, and food service companies.

Students then transform it into nutritious, easy to prepare meals that are vacuum sealed, frozen and distributed through food shelves and meal sites.


The Community Kitchen Academy (CKA), a partnership between the Vermont Foodbank and Capstone Community Action, helps under- and unemployed Vermonters start a career in the food service industry through an intensive culinary skills development, career readiness and job placement training.

When they graduate, students are ready for a job in the food service industry. They have developed valuable life and professional skills including goal establishment, résumé writing, interviewing skills, conflict management, and budgeting.

A person holding a tray of meatballs behind a table of trays

Enroll in CKA Today!

Check out the Community Kitchen Academy’s website for more information:
Community Kitchen Academy | Vermont Foodbank

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