Thank you to PCC Community Markets for the recent tour of your Redmond store for our students enrolled in the Nutrition, Health, & Fitness course.
This course focuses on overall wellness and the application of healthy living practices. Throughout the quarter, students actively participate in events that demonstrate skills and knowledge of kitchen safety, menu planning, and maintaining healthy lifestyle choices. The tour at PCC store gives students an opportunity to learn how to be an informed consumer, an in-depth look into a local store in their community, plus the added bonus of learning about job opportunities in the grocery industry.
The tour guides, Nate and Ashley, explained PCC’s close-knit relationship with local farmers and ranchers, and how PCC offers hyper-seasonal specialties such as microgreens and zucchini blossoms as well as organic meat that’s free of antibiotics and hormones. They also shared insight into PCC’s practices and how they choose what products to sell.
One student, Ross, was impressed by the amount of research PCC does on their products. “I did not know that PCC did research on every single food product they sell in their store. And most of the produce I had never seen or heard of before (blood oranges, champagne mangoes),” he says.
And what would a trip to PCC be without getting to eat some of the food? Students got to sample Mango/Strawberry Cake, Grass-Fed Yogurt, Champagne Mango slices, and various side dishes from their deli.
Students were introduced to staff in each of the store’s departments who gave a brief explanation of their products. They also got a close look at the unique composting program PCC participates in through a partnership with WISErg Corporation. The composting machine is designed to liquefy food scraps including animal products, into a nutrient-rich slurry that the company takes back and converts into fertilizer used to grow organic crops.
The tour wrapped up with learning about the various job positions within a grocery store and at the corporate level. In addition, staff gave our students tips for shopping on a college budget and an overview of the cooking classes that PCC offers.
“One moment that really stuck out to me is that they offer cooking classes. I never heard a grocery store doing that,” says 2nd year student Katelyn. “This made me feel like PCC gives back to the community, and I love how they have TV’s to get a better look what the chef is doing. They really think and care for their community.”
Nutrition, Health, and Fitness is one of the many courses OLS Students take to obtain their associate degree from OLS. More information about our curriculum is available on our website. To learn more about our program register for an Information Session.
Last Updated April 9, 2019