NIAGARA FALLS, NY — The students enrolled in the horticulture of cannabis classes at Niagara County Community College showed off their skills at the SUNY Culinary Cannabis Conference on Monday.
Students participated in the first-ever nationally recognized competition for cannabis in food, sponsored by the American Culinary Federation.
Christopher Tanner, Executive Director of the federation, told 7 News this competition will open up more possibilities.
"We wanted to be the first people to sponsor a competition that used cannabis in food; it made a lot of sense to come up here," said Tanner.
The courses offered by NCCC teach students how to cultivate, grow, and infuse cannabis into food to provide more stepping stones into the cannabis industry.
"It's not just cooking with cannabis. It's all of the companies producing everything from powders and flakes and gummies and supplements--it puts our students at the ground floor of a pioneering industry," said Josh Blumberg, Niagara Falls Campus Manager.
The courses were offered by NCCC, Genesee Community College, Jamestown Community College, and SUNY Erie through a $1 million grant in 2022, all in part of SUNY's commitment to expand the cannabis industry workforce.
Chef and Assistant Professor Nathan Kolscielski says these courses will educate students on how to use cannabis inventively and safely.
"(Cannabis) is an important ingredient to work with; it can be a scary ingredient to work with, but if you have the education background and know how to work with it safely and effectively, it's a great ingredient," said Kolscielski.
