Angelika Mäkelä‘s great interest in urban farming spurred her to enroll in the AgriCulinary training. Coincidentally, she came across a social media post about a course offered by Perho Culinary, Tourism and Business College that combines gardening and culinary arts.

“In the AgriCulinary training, I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know food industry professionals and learn how the food industry operates beyond primary production. At the same time, I had the chance to network with individuals from the gardening and restaurant industries.”

The course modules are aptly combined with kitchen work or field visits

“During the visits and lectures, we saw and heard concrete things, such as maintaining a biodynamic farm, self-sufficiency, organic and greenhouse farming, tomato cultivation, organic flower growing, livestock rearing, cheese making, beer brewing, grain milling, vegetarian cooking, and using seaweed from Denmark in various forms of food.”

The Restaurant Pellolla event is the highlight of the training, organized in collaboration with Restaurant Perho. We planted vegetables, herbs, and potatoes in Green City Farm’s field to complement the event’s rich menu. At the beginning of summer, students spent time in Finland’s fresh nature collecting wild herbs.

Ravintola Pelto is the Skills Showcase

“On Finnish Nature Day, Saturday, August 31st, we organized the Restaurant Pellolla event, which serves as our thesis project and a wonderful conclusion to our AgriCulinary studies. We had the opportunity to showcase the skills we had acquired over the months.”

Angelika graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry at the University of Helsinki.