I started off at 5:30am by helping Kay prep the lines for breakfast. This was not my first early shift and I couldn't help but reflect on a few conversations I had the day before. Foodservice employees work odd hours throughout the day. They spend most holidays working. Most days off are spent resting or running errands. They also stand up for about 8 hours in any given day.
When my friends and family learned that I go to work before the sun even came up, they were in shock. The reality is that food has to be prepped and students have to be fed. Yesterday, after the big rush someone commented "I am sure that you have probably decided by now that this is not the field that you'd like to pursue". I value service, that is one thing for sure. However, I don't think many people consider the challenges that food-service employees endure.
My first week in a dining hall, one of my co-workers had commented, "People think that those who work in dining services aren't the brightest batch. But these are intelligent people. They have to manage providing quality, safe and tasty food at an affordable price for hundreds of students on a daily basis." Cooking at home is a task. When you have the health and welfare of students on your hands you have to be on top of your game at all times. Aside from general food safety, we must also take precautions to ensure that we do not cross-contaminate food that can possibly harm our customers with food allergies and intolerance. Food-service is obviously more than just boiling water and throwing potatoe flakes into a pot.
In a university setting, it is about making sure that students feel at home. That they are also informed about various foods and that they have access to information so that they can make choices that are ideal for their health and personal preferences or requirements.
Back to my day, after helping prep for breakfast I worked on more prepping herbs and veggie soups. After lunch I met with Ben to discuss my mid-term evaluation. We discussed the progress of the internship and areas that I could improve on. Ben had provided helpful tools for the remainder of my internship here at CSU. I was pleased with the evaluation.
I then met with a variety of managers and directors to discuss the progress of special events for Corbett next year. We discussed the Bollywood themed event which I teamed up with Steve on. We had a lot of great recipes, more than enough to choose from. We finally completed the menu! I can't wait to see pictures from this event next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment