Max Buckner is the regional sales manager for Ayrloom, a Lafayette-based cannabis company whose products are in dispensaries statewide. He may be behind a table at the Niagara Falls Culinary Institute to sell gummies, vapes and beverages, but he’s still eager to find out more about the industry.
“I’m looking forward to definitely learning some things,” Bucnker said. “There’s gonna be some really awesome talks and I’m sure I’ll learn a bunch of cool stuff.”
This is the second year the SUNY Cannabis Conference has included a day of speakers and food at the culinary institute, starting with Instructor Nathan Koscielski giving a talk on how to pair the flavor profiles found in cannabis with foods. All the presentations Monday centered around fusing food with cannabis in some way, finishing with a dinner at the Savor restaurant in the institute.
The first year in 2023 featured just one day of businesses and presentations on the SUNY Niagara Sanborn campus. This portion makes the culinary institute one of the few culinary schools that hosts an event like this, even getting the recognition of the American Culinary Federation.
“You almost could not help but include it,” said Brian Michel, the assistant VP of Academic Affairs at SUNY Niagara, noting that consumables are gaining in market share due to people putting cannabis products into their cooking. “It’s one (texture) that, until recently, in the state of New York was a largely foreign concept to the masses.”
Koscielski first started teaching courses at the culinary institute on culinary cannabis and edibles three months before cannabis became fully legal in New York state in 2021. His courses were the first of their kind offered at any SUNY college, with the school planning to offer a certificate course for culinary cannabis starting this fall.
Only 150 tickets were sold for the conference’s first day, but they quickly sold out during the presale period. Around 300 guests and many more speakers are planned for the second day in Sanborn.
Last year’s conference featured a cooking competition put on by the American Culinary Federation, with medals and awards given out. While no such event happened this year, the institute’s students had the opportunity to share their food skills with the audience.
Koscielski hopes the people who came Monday to get more comfortable working with cannabis, comparing it to when people use wines and liquors in their cooking. He mostly works with the growing number of people using it for medical reasons.
“Some of that stigma on the dangers of cannabis can kind of be relieved off of them,” Koscielski said, “and everyone can kind of feel comfortable working with it in their own home.”