Mother Earth was certainly on the menu at the Culinary & Bakery Club’s Earth Day fundraiser on April 22 serving up blue and green conchas and blue spirulina matcha to all Earth lovers in the only Earth Day related event on campus this year.
The club’s focus is to raise money for a new compost bin system to implement a true “Farm to Table” process that begins in the culinary classroom. Student experience of the management and organizing skills it takes to host events like this for the community was also a goal of the fundraiser.
“Students came up with the whole process. I’m very proud of them because they executed the whole project,” said Marina Krasotkina, chef instructor and culinary and baking club co-advisor.
Krasotkina explains that the club is in charge of taking care of the garden and decided to celebrate the Earth and incorporate it into the design of the program.
The plan is to include the entire process of composting to harvesting of herbs, vegetables and fruits for recipes and new culinary ideas to be developed by students and to include other departments.
“We teach students that come from different skills, backgrounds, education, age, countries, languages. And students have different goals. But I see students getting jobs, starting their own businesses, or just learning how to cook for themselves, how to bake for themselves,” said Krasotkina.
Krasotkina went on to share how the garden would offer a hands-on learning experience.
“Because right now, I think it’s a funny situation when we live in a culture with culinary shows and competitions and this and that, but at the same time, people don’t even know how to cook it, make a chicken or make a stock,” Krasotkina said.
The goal is to create a resource where students can learn about what to plant during each season given Southern California’s weather and incorporate it into their cooking recipes.
Allowing a space to introduce and expose students to natural growth patterns and a variety of herbs, vegetables and fruit used in the kitchen, is an important feature as many students live in apartments and at locations that have limited space for a garden.
The club focused their menu on Earth Day 2026 celebrated across the country this year and marks the 56th anniversary of the annual event that is aimed at environmental protection with this year’s theme: Our Power, Our Planet as the guiding idea for events and activities.
You could not deny the sweet smell and warmth coming from the trays rolling up straight out of the kitchen with students, faculty, staff and local community members waiting in line to taste the culinary creations.
The fluffy round bakery delights are designed after the Mexican sweet bread (pan dulce) that is shaped like a seashell (concha) with an outside shell made of blue and green sugar.
“It was really good. It’s better than the store. But this one was actually good. But this is like my fourth one,” said Keila Arenas, a first year art major transfer student from Los Angeles City College.
Arenas shared how the commute to Hollywood was becoming difficult and expensive and LBCC was closer to home. The event was a new experience on campus for her.
“I think that’s a really good experience. You know, if they were to have their own business, like if they were to open their own store, you know, they actually have some experience and how to deal with customers, how to set everything up,” Arenas said.
The line started to grow as the morning went on attracting more and more students looking for a quick bite before class.
“I saw the post yesterday evening and I was like, oh my goodness, I love it when they do these because every time I’ve gotten something to snack on or just eat from them, it is really good compared to store-bought stuff,” said Bryan Rosas, an engineering major.
Rosas shares how he used to work at a local bakery and, “You know, the funny thing is I used to work at a bakery around in middle school. I want to say that even then, these are still better than the ones I made with the baker that I worked with.”
The Earth drink of the day was the green matcha and blue spirulina that created a mixture of colors giving off the blue ocean and green earth filled with nutrients.
“So, matcha is also very high in antioxidants. And the caffeine content, it’s not as high as, like, a normal coffee, but it won’t give the cash out coffee. So, it’s a very slow-releasing. It absorbs better into the body,” said Kathleen Talamantes, a first year culinary student preparing the ingredients for the event.
According to the club’s Facebook, the club is designed to promote and teach healthy living within the surrounding communities, especially aimed towards the youth of today. Also, to improve their culinary skills and learn more about the culinary industry.
The club is known as Taste of LBCC on Instagram and states they are a Culinary and Baking Club located on the LAC campus of Long Beach City College
The club meets every other Wednesday with the next meeting being on May 6 from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. in room V-112 honoring Cinco de Mayo with birria tacos, churros and more food.
