MIT Weeks 5-6

Time sure does fly when you are having fun! Fourth of July week was pretty relaxed in the office. We finished off the project with Chartwells and got it approved by our boss, Naomi. Overall, we recorded over 100 of kitchen equipment and small-ware items.

You can see how many items we recorded based on the sticky notes! 

We also worked on the financial end of things: we began recording daily sales for each retail location on campus for this year so that they will have a comparison for future sales. Microsoft Excel seems to be our best friend this summer considering how much we have been using it! The final inventory project for the year also began, where we will have to record brand, model number, electricity requirements, etc. This will take up a big portion of our time for the rest of the internship, due to the fact that there are so many kitchens to visit and so much equipment to track down!

Week 6 was the kick off for our farmers market promotions. This week was all about properly selecting and storing the produce, as well as some food safety information about fresh fruits and veggies. There were lots of students interested and excited about what we will be doing over the next few weeks, which includes cutting demonstrations for mangoes, recipe cards, as well as possible samples!

Kelsea, Susan and I at our farmers market promotion! 

When it came to funtivities, Fourth of July weekend was by far the best fireworks show I have ever seen! We got to watch them from the McCormick penthouse, and they went off from a barge in the Charles right next to where we were watching! 

The MIT res life and dining interns, Amber and Nicole, and their boss, Bridget, with Susan and I right before the fireworks began!

 The show was AMAZING! 

Susan took most of the pictures but I managed to get her in front of the lens! 

I can't believe there are only three weeks left, it seems like we got here just last week! I am excited to see what the rest of this internship has in store for us, and we will definitely continue to make the most of our time here in Boston! 

MIT: Week 4 Recap

Good afternoon, fellow interns!

Last week was a whirlwind, but we learned so much, and it didn't even seem like work! On Monday, we began a project with Chartwells that we would be working on all week, which is in charge of five different retail locations contracted under MIT dining. They have many different options for food, my favorite being the Stata Center, where they have a sandwich station, many hot food options ranging anywhere from Mediterranean fish and veggies, stuffed red peppers, or baked macaroni and cheese. I have always been thoroughly impressed with the quality of the food there!

Ray and Maria Stata Center-most interesting architecture I have ever seen!

The project consisted of documenting inventory of small-wear and equipment such as silverware, serving bowls, pan warmers, coffee dispensers, sheet pans, etc. We went to each Chartwells location and recorded the quantity and name of each item. It was interesting to learn the official title of each piece of equipment, rather than the generic name most of us have always known! After collecting all of the information, we used "Hubert" sales catalogs to record pricing ranges for each piece of equipment. This experience was very eye opening for us, because it shows how costly a business start up would be for even the most basic equipment, and a big reason as to why many restaurants go under. Management skills are key in this process to ensure smart buying and budgeting. 

While going through the inventory, we came across some old bikes that were used for a raffle. Don, the director of Chartwells higher education, who we were working with on this project, said that we could use the bikes this summer! They are definitely different, but hey, it's free transportation!

Susan and I with our new wheels

We also stopped by the MIT farmers market to choose the fruits and vegetables we would be highlighting in our piece for promoting fresh produce! This week will consist of selecting and storing produce: basic tips for shopping at the farmers market. Next week, we will begin highlighting the foods, by providing recipe cards and health information about the specific fruit or veggie! I am so excited for this project, and I am thankful for my HNF 353 class at WVU, because we did something very similar to this for a grade! 

The best part of the week was our "field trip" to Russo's. This is the store that provides all the produce for the MIT farmers market. The business was started 75 years ago by Antonio Russo, which is the current owner's father. The family is immersed in helping farmers all over the world. It was literally the biggest produce market I have ever seen. We got the grand tour from Victor Moreira, the office manager. They have 40 food trucks that go around Massachusetts every day, delivering to restaurants, schools, hospitals, etc. They have items other than produce, however, the marketing strategy they use keeps fresh foods at eye level, and packaged merchandise from other vendors on the bottom of the shelves. There is also a bakery in which most breads and desserts are made on site daily! 

Notice the placement of the merchandise!

The warehouse size cooler that stores all fresh produce!

We got to meet the owner, Michael Anthony Russo (Tony), and he gave us a bouquet of Peonies! Left to right: Kelsea Gusk (the RD for MIT Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center), Susan Ledgister, Tony Russo, myself, Michael Myers, and Victor Moreira (office manager at Russo's)

For more info, check out the website: http://russos.com/

Thanks for reading! More posts to come!

NACUFS Internship: MIT

My name is Rachel, and I am one of two interns here at MIT this summer working with dining services. The other intern's name is Susan and I will be writing on behalf of both of our experiences here in Boston! We are in our third week, and the time has flown by! Both Susan and I already in love with this city, the people, and everything it has to offer. Since there are too many details to post about every day, I am simply going to give a summary of each week.

Week One
When arriving in Boston, I was in complete awe of the scenery, the active and healthy community, and the small town feel-despite it's size. MIT's campus in Cambridge and the city of Boston are separated by a small walk across The Charles River: a view I vowed to never take for granted while living in this city.

Photo of myself next to the Charles 

 Sunsets are the best here!

Susan!

For the first week of work, we toured all of the dining locations, while trying to get familiar with how the system works at MIT. We also had meetings with almost everyone here at the Res Life & Dining office, and learned about all of their jobs and how they pertained to dining services. The meal plan is very unique, with 5 dining halls, as well as over 30 retail locations. Residential Life & Dining has only been in existence for around 3-4 years. The factor that sets MIT apart from the rest, is that students are very involved in the decision making process when it comes to dining. I suppose that's what you get when working with some of the most intelligent students in America. The history is extremely vibrant as well. For example, since the 80's, there has been a secret faculty lead student group involved in something called "hacking" where students basically work together to pull some of the most prestigious, well thought out pranks ever. There are rules that have to be followed so no one and nothing is hurt during the process. 

      

Some photos of "hacks" from the past

Lastly, we got to volunteer at commencement! It was a beautiful day for this event. We worked at the information tent (ironic since we had only been here for one week- but we had a blast!)

Week Two 

This is the week where our projects actually began to take flight. There are about 5 large projects that we will be working on over the course of the summer, and this week we started on implementing a food safety training class for student groups who participate in bake sales on campus. We compiled information and put it into power-point form with videos, and plan on facilitating an online test for students to take in order to acquire a certificate for their year of bake sale fund-raisers. 

We also met with the new dietitian on campus and spoke to her about the farmer's market at MIT. We will be working with her to make recipe cards for the produce and information packets about how to shop smart at your local farmer's market. This will be a great promotional tool for eating local- and healthy! I can't wait until it kicks off! 

Week Three

Organization is the best word to describe week three. We collaborated with the associate director of MIT dining, Michael Myers, to break down what we would be doing for the rest of the summer. We continued to work on our food safety project, and met with more people that work for Bon Appetit, such as the marketing director, executive chef, etc. 

Pertaining to after hours, we went to a small local concert, and we got to use the "Hubway" for the first time

(a public bike transit in Boston.) We used it to go to Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum for a garden party! 

Check the blog next week for more updates on our internship and Boston experience! Thanks for reading!