Faces of Food & Fitness: Patty O'Hollearn
Return to Our Roots
Patty O'Hollearn witnessed many changes at Turkey Valley Community Schools over the course of 34 years.
She recalls how school cooks used to prepare homemade pizza crusts and bread and how they cleaned chickens.
A Family and Consumer Science teacher, O'Hollearn spent years teaching and cooking alongside students. She has always been attune to school food and its aromas.
"I love fresh baking bread at school. I'm convinced it creates a safe and homey environment that encourages students to want to be there," said O'Hollearn.
For the past two years, O'Hollearn has incorporated school garden produce into her foods classes.
She speaks wildly about a project this past fall which utilized excess eggplant that elementary school students planted in Turkey Valley's garden.
O'Hollearn challenged 16 of her high school students to find a recipe using eggplant. There could be no repeats, and as a class they voted on which to cook. O'Hollearn's favorite dish was a ratatouille pizza with homemade wheat crust. Many of the students had never had ratatouille let alone eggplant before.
She refers to herself as an experimental cook and often does not use a recipe. However, she has learned key rules over the years.
"I'm learning alongside the kids and it's great because I have lot of people to help in the process, said O'Hollearn. You can't go wrong with spices and herbs."
O'Hollearn wishes school meals had more fresh ingredients, spices and were prepared from scratch. However, she is also aware of the time, money and labor it would take to make such meals. The system is not equipped…yet.
It is not impossible, but O'Hollearn believes policies must change at the top. Recently, O'Hollearn wrote to First-Lady Michelle Obama explaining the roadblocks that face food service staff face.
Food service staff at Turkey Valley Community Schools have made an extra effort to use school garden produce in meals. And O'Hollearn recalls local growers providing melons this past year.
She appreciates, what she refers to as, "labor of love"— garden and preparing meals. It is in her blood. O'Hollearn's mother used garden produce to feed her 12 children, canning everything from peaches to meats. Her mother still gardens and bakes her famous honey wheat rolls.
This past year O'Hollearn taught eight classes in seven periods. O'Hollearn often arrived at school at 7:00AM and stay until 10:00PM. There were so many school-based activities her students were involved in. O'Hollearn has kept track of many of her students. She is especially excited about several who have enrolled in the culinary program at Kirkwood Community College.
This past year was O'Hollearn's final at Turkey Valley Community Schools. However, rather than retiring, O'Hollearn is "rebooting." She has a running list of projects. O'Hollearn will continue working at The Blue Iris, a floral and gift shop in New Hampton, mentoring a special needs student, spending time with family, gardening, and of course cooking.
