Farming for Health Podcast #23: Kirk Bachmann

Campus President and Provost of the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, Kirk Bachmann, takes us back in time to the 1960s. His parents had immigrated to the United States from Germany in that era with his father being a master pastry chef who focused on baking. In fact, Kirk comes from a true culinary heritage that spans four generations. Advice given to him by his father? Be a good cook. 

Kirk grew up in Chicago where his father continued to pursue his culinary craft. When the family moved to Colorado, the Bachmann's bought and managed a hotel while also staying in the restaurant business. Kirk worked alongside his family but, when the time came to pursue his education, he first earned a bachelor degree in business from the University of Oregon. He then returned to his roots at the Western Culinary Institute in Portland. 

He found his sweet spot in teaching culinary, pastry, and hospitality programs, including as the chef instructor at his alma mater—and he couldn’t be happier about his life’s path. Kirk is fully committed to his classroom teaching as he shares experiences and works to impact students. Recently, a 2019 graduate of Auguste Escoffier wrote to say that the biggest lesson she learned at the culinary school was to “lean in” to give all you have—and, as Kirk points out, this can apply to anything (and everything!) in life.

Find out more about Kirk’s remarkable story in Leaning In: Culinary Trends and the Power of Teaching.

Past Episodes of our Farming for Health Podcast

If you’ve missed any of our previous episodes, you can find them here:

• Episode One: Keto, Cruciferous Vegetables, Salt and Your Mindset
• Episode Two: Cooking, Conviviality, and Preserving the Harvest
• Episode Three: Ferments, Food Insecurity, and Wasted Food
• Episode Four: Anti-Cancer Diet, Food as Medicine, and Vegetables
• Episode Five: Plants, Happiness and Mindful Neglect.
• Episode Six: Whole 30, Sustainable Habits, and Loving Vegetables
• Episode Seven: Iodine, Egg Yolk Enzymes, and Miso
• Episode Eight: Fungi, Bitter Foods, and Food Extinction
• Episode Nine: Understanding Food, Nutritional Healing and Farming
• Episode Ten: Enjoying the Process, Connection and Soup
• Episode Eleven: Monica Geller, Community and Limiting Salads 
• Episode Twelve: Nourishment, Creativity, and Full-Spectrum Health
• Episode Thirteen: The Joy of Cooking, Fermentation, and Seasonality 
• Episode Fourteen: Cauliflower, Potlucks, and the Joy of Food
• Episode Fifteen: Time Savers, Pickled Raisins and Cooking With Creativity
• Episode Sixteen: Romanticizing Food, Seasonal Eating, and Shamed Spinach
• Episode Seventeen: Being Present, The Eat In Method and Food as Fuel
• Episode Eighteen: Regenerative Grazing, Monarchs and Voting with Your Dollar 
• Episode Nineteen: Childhood Injustice, Soil Health, and Relationship with Nature
• Episode Twenty: Yoga, Climate Changes, and Creating a Livable Future
• Episode Twenty-One: Understanding the Soul, Flow State, and Finding Your Purpose
• Episode Twenty-Two: Regenerative Food Systems, Food Sheds, and Resiliency