The community college that launched a culinary arts program in 1981 to train chefs for the Atlantic City casinos is now preparing to add cooking with cannabis to its menu of course offerings.
But how quickly the plan proceeds depends on when New Jersey legalizes marijuana for recreational use.
“We’ll be ready whenever the opportunity presents itself,” said Chef Kelly McClay, dean of the academy of culinary arts at the Atlantic Cape Community College. “Some think it will happen in the next six months; others are resistant and don’t think it will happen at all. I think it could be relatively soon.”
Lawmakers have been debating legalization for more than a year and some have proposed allowing it in a few limited places at first. Atlantic City has been mentioned as a trial location.
The first female executive sous chef to work in an Atlantic City casino, McClay has long been open to innovative ideas. She converted a greenhouse at the Mays Landing campus that was once used by the science department into a place that grows organic herbs and edible flowers.