White Dog Teaches Educators New Tricks

As we move forward to revise our classes and curriculum to teach the dynamics of sustainability to students it is refreshing to read stories from those in foodservice that have been doing it for years. The White Dog Café is one such place that was started by Judy Wicks as a take-out coffee and muffing shop in the first floor of her house back in 1983 in Philadelphia. Early on Judy thought of her business as more than a way to make money; it was a way to serve the needs of the community – a much larger purpose indeed. That is why she had dedicated the White Dog Café to serving customers, serving the work community (fellow employees), serving the community, and serving nature.

One of many notable actions taken by the White Dog Café, to fulfill its mission of serving the community, is its mentoring program that was started in 1992 with a local high school, which is describe on its website as follows:

Since 1992 this program with students from the Restaurant, Hotel and Tourism Academy at West Philadelphia High School provides opportunities for workplace experience, community service participation, field trips to purveyors and family farms, and recreational and cultural activities. Students learn about the restaurant business and put on a special event in the spring with the help of our staff. Each year a Culinary Scholarship of $1000 is awarded to a graduate to attend restaurant management or culinary school.

I hope there are other hospitality and tourism programs out there that have a similar relationship as the White Dog mentoring program with West Philadelphia High. If not, I hope that after reading this post more are to come. If you know of any mentoring programs like the one at White Dog Café please pass them along to me by e-mail (Mlalopa@fooded.org) or add them to this post so we can enhance our learning community. To learn more about this sustainable business for yourself, or as a best practices example for students, please visit: http://www.whitedog.com