University of North Dakota

 

Week #8

 

I never thought eight weeks could fly by so fast! This last week was busy because I was trying to tie a pretty bow around the big projects I have been working on throughout the summer which included menu development and MyPlate Monday education program.  Rather than talk more about these programs since this will be my last blog here I am going to take the liberty to focus on my general experience of this internship program.

There were three overarching items I learned this summer. Now be warned that these don’t involve any of the nitty gritty stuff with nutrition, menus, FoodPro (although I surprisingly enjoy working this program), teaching, and just the overall workings of the dining industry.

1.       The industry involved in University dining is huge! I mean food comes from farms and can pass through so many different people before it makes it to a customer’s plate. I loved meeting and talking with the merchandisers, distributors, and brokers, who are just a few of the people that are instrumental in getting the food safely to the dining center. 

2.       My future as a dietitian is so exciting!!! I mean I have spent three years studying this field and it is always reassuring when I actually enjoy the career opportunities that my field has to offer. That way my education and money isn’t going to be wasted! The possibilities of career opportunities are pretty much endless. This is both annoying because it means more big decisions, and fun, because my career field is so diverse and I love it.

3.       The people of North Dakota are so amazing. I mean it can be kind of scary showing up in a random town for a couple of months. But the people here were so welcoming and I definitely made some good friends. I also just want to give a shout out to my amazing supervisor, Dustin, and all of the wonderful people I worked with this summer. The University of North Dakota runs a top notch dining services program thanks to all these amazingly talented people.

So I will miss the great city of Grand Forks and will definitely look back on this experience with a smile for years to come. I hope all of you have had as great of an experience as I have and I wish you luck in finishing your internships!

University of North Dakota

Week #7

It was time for another road trip! Dustin and I went to Fargo and toured a Food Services of America warehouse. They definitely gave us the star treatment upon arrival and during the tour. There were rows and rows of merchandise extending as far and high as I could see. The people working there were so nice and even took the time to explain all the intricacies of their business. 

After that it was off to Concordia College. Their new dining facility wasn’t in use this summer, but the tour was still a lot of fun. There was an ingredient room which was cool because I had never seen one of those in action before. Their kitchen, serving line, and dining area were absolutely gorgeous! I can definitely see why they earned so many awards for it. 

Afterwards we were delighted with a delicious lunch provided by Hockenburgh Newburgh. They explained how brokers fit into the entire picture with distributors and manufacturers. One of the things I definitely learned from this trip is that there is a lot of manpower going into getting your food to the plate in front of you! 

The work week ended early because of Independence Day! So I took off to Northern Minnesota to spend the weekend at Moose Lake. It was filled with hiking, canoeing, games, rain, and of course, mosquitoes. But it was so much fun to get out and enjoy the beautiful wilderness. This next picture is one of us trying out canoe jousting.It got a little bit violent and I have some big bruises to prove it, but my team held out pretty well and we won a few matches.

 

University of North Dakota

Week #6

Just as my teacher beat into my brain menus really do drive everything! I see that more and more the longer I have been here at UND. The summer has been going so fast that we are putting our menu development into high gear so it is ready in August. So this week we had several meetings with the staff to get their input on the menu schedule. I also started putting the menus into Food Pro.

The State Board of Education was in town and there were a lot of events I helped catering with. I quite enjoyed working with their Sous Chef, James, who taught me how to make some amazing gourmet appetizers that I can’t spell or pronounce the names off the top of my head. But they all turned out fantastic and the guests said it tasted good, too!

Just to highlight one of the fun activities Grand Forks has to offer. This weekend was the fair and while it wasn’t the fairs I am used to in the West it was still a lot of fun! There were carnivals, bear shows, booths, 4-H exhibits, concerts, races, and one new thing for me was a mounted shooting contest. It was pretty impressive to see them hitting the targets while running around on their horse. It was a fun way to end the week, though!

University of North Dakota

Week #5

This week I was able to spend time working with managers in the other departments. I started out working with Jackie and Molly in Squires. This is the only dining facility which is open all the time for the summer. It was fun to learn the art of forecasting, scheduling employees, ordering groceries, and managing the smooth execution of serving the meals. We set up the Whole Grain salad concept that I helped to construct last week to test how the students liked it. The people who tried it loved the recipes, but not too many of the customers were adventurous enough to try it. So we will probably do more with sampling the new whole grains to encourage people to try the recipes

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I also helped to test their new homemade pizza dough that they have been experimenting with. I think we finally perfected the pizza though, because I everyone agreed that it was delicious! After Squires I finished off my week by working with the catering staff. Now I haven't spent a lot of time with catering before, but it takes a much different perspective to be a successful caterer than someone running a dining center. It was fun though because I learned how they schedule and plan events and even met with a customer to help them decide what food to order for their event. I also helped at a simple reception of pastries and drinks. The food looked so good that I took a snapshot of the fresh pastries before the guests came and devoured them!