Cook the Farm

Immerse Yourself in Food, Place, and Community

What is Cook the Farm?

Cook the Farm (CTF) is a way of learning, living, and thinking about food—a method rooted in immersion, connection, and regeneration. It is an invitation to re-engage with food, land, and community through hands-on, place-based experiences. Participants deepen their understanding of where food comes from, how it is grown, and why it matters—not just for nourishment, but for cultural preservation, biodiversity, and the health of our planet. CTF is about tasting the landscape, exploring alongside farmers, producers, and artisans, and experiencing food as a bridge between past and future. It’s not just a program, it’s a transformative approach to food and culture, designed to be adapted across different regions.

Who Attends Cook the Farm?

Cook the Farm welcomes a diverse community of learners: people united by curiosity, openness, and a desire to deepen their relationship with food.

Culinary professionals, farmers, growers, and restaurant workers seeking a new relationship with food systems, ingredients, and tradition
Career changers and life explorers looking for a meaningful reconnection with food, place, and identity
Storytellers—writers, researchers, artists—drawn to the cultural narratives of food
Recent graduates exploring a future in food, sustainability, or cultural preservation
Home cooks and food lovers who want to gain deeper kitchen confidence and reconnect with food at its source
Anyone ready to rethink their place in the food world through immersive learning and deep engagement

Since 2016, Cook the Farm in Sicily has welcomed 109 participants from around the world. Students from thirteen countries—including the United States, Canada, Australia, Egypt, Brazil, Japan, and beyond—have brought with them backgrounds as diverse as fashion, farming, finance, education, and the culinary arts. Alumni have gone on to build homesteads, launch food writing careers, open bakeries, lead food education initiatives, and consult for small producers—each carrying forward the spirit of Cook the Farm into their own communities.

How you learn

At Cook the Farm, learning is lived, rooted in experience, conversation, and the land itself.

Expert Perspectives and Community Dialogue

Lectures and presentations from agronomists, enologists, chefs, professors, and food professionals provide a strong foundation. Group discussions deepen the experience, encouraging reflection and dialogue around food systems, sustainability, and tradition.

Site Visits and Fieldwork

We take learning beyond the classroom. Visits to cheesemakers, flour mills, farms, and artisan workshops offer direct insight into local production and the connections between land, craft, and culture.

Hands-On Kitchen Work

Cooking classes, demonstrations, and tastings explore the flavors and techniques of regional cuisine. Lessons are led by our in-house chef and visiting experts—from butchers to cheesemakers—offering practical skills rooted in place.

Learning from the Land

Through outdoor explorations, we study terroir—the intricate relationship between environment and human tradition that shapes the flavors and culture of a region.

Podcast from 2018

Who Should Apply

Cook the Farm benefits from diversity among participants. In the past, students have come from the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Brazil, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Australia, and Canada and from a variety of backgrounds. However, all participants are motivated, curious, and excited about hands-on and field-based learning which requires hard work, patience, and a sense of community.

We’re looking for:

People interested in food from the source (how it’s grown, processed, cooked and enjoyed)
Those wishing to gain more kitchen confidence
All people curious and excited about Sicilian cuisine
Recent graduates interested in food but not yet decided on a career path
Those looking for a career change into a more food oriented profession
Culinary professionals, farmers, growers and restaurant workers looking for a more complete view of food and food systems

Cook the Farm continues the legacy of the school’s founder, Anna Tasca Lanza, who opened her home in 1989 to share the food traditions of Sicily. That spirit of hospitality, curiosity, and respect for the land still lives in every part of the program.

Who Is Involved and What We Come From

Cook the Farm was founded in 2016 at the Anna Tasca Lanza Cooking School, on the Tasca family estate of Regaleali in rural Sicily. The program grew from a simple but powerful idea: to explore food not just as something we cook, but as something we live, rooted in land, tradition, and change.

The vision came from Fabrizia Lanza, who created Cook the Farm as a response to her own questions about the future of food. With a background in art history and a deep connection to her Sicilian heritage, Fabrizia imagined a place where cooking, farming, and cultural reflection could meet. While she weaves in and out of every Cook the Farm, her voice and values shape its direction each year. She remains the creative force behind every edition of Cook the Farm.

Leading on the ground programming is Francesca Farris, Cook the Farm’s director and facilitator. With training in Cultural Anthropology and Sustainable Agriculture, Francesca brings both structure and soul to the experience. She supports participants from their first application through every step of their journey, and long after they’ve returned home. She is the day-to-day heartbeat of the program.