The food service industry is constantly evolving and changing due to social, political and economic factors. Directors of food service operations must constantly be on the look-out for current trends that may affect their business and operation. Steve Youngbaum, Director of Child Nutrition Programs for Madison Metropolitan School District, Amy Miller, Director of Food and Nutrition Services for Sauk Prairie Health Care, and Peter Testory, Director of Dining and Culinary Services for UW Housing are examples of individuals tuning in to such trends. Two trends that are especially relevant for food service today are that of the growing gig economy and the potential repeal of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). The gig economy is …show more content…
As part of this policy, these individuals are also able to obtain a work permit and hold jobs in the United States. President Trump has moved to end DACA, which could have many potential effects on the immigrants who have been granted work permits through the act. One potential result is that these individuals could lose their jobs here in the US, and be deported back to their home countries. This repeal would result in changes in agriculture and food systems, which would trickle back to the food service operations. This is a political change that would have effects on all types of food service operations. The department of labor estimates that 46% of farmworkers in the US are illegal immigrants (Haspel). If this many farmworkers were deported, there would be a large lack of employees for the agriculture industry. Filling these positions would be no easy task, as harvesting produce is not a highly sought after job. The work is difficult, requires long hours, and is rewarded with low wages. Even if these jobs were filled by US citizens, farmers would most likely need to pay higher wages. One way to compensate for these increased costs would be to raise the price of produce. This would have a direct effect on food service directors as their food supply bill would be increasing. This may require cuts in different areas of the operation, coming up with new ways to make revenue, or cutting back on the produce
Stephen Boos has worked in the food service industry for over 30 years. He started as a bus person and subsequently trained as a chef’s apprentice. Steve’s mother believed that a college education was something that everyone should receive. She felt that a college degree was a good investment in Steve’s future. In 1976 at his mother’s insistence, Boos moved to Northeastern Ohio to attend Kent State University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. After graduation, Steve began working for East Park Restaurant as a line cook. Using his education as a foundation, Steve made a point to learn everything he could about running a restaurant, from cutting meat to the bi-weekly food and beverage orders. His versatility, keen business sense, and ability to control costs resulted in Steve’s promotion to General Manager, as role he has held since 1995.
“Out of every $1.50 spent on a large order of fries at fast food restaurant, perhaps 2 cents goes to the farmer that grew the potatoes,” (Schlosser 117). Investigative journalist Eric Schlosser brings to light these realities in his bestselling book, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Schlosser, a Princeton and Oxford graduate, is known for his inspective pieces for Atlantic Monthly. While working on article, for Rolling Stone Magazine, about immigrant workers in a strawberry field he acquired his inspiration for the aforementioned book, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, a work examining the country’s fast food industry (Gale).
To start off the book, the Poppendieck writes about her experience working in a school cafeteria for a week. She explains the daily routine of a school food service worker, which includes thawing and heating the frozen food that will be served that day, serving the food, running the a la carte line, and recording all of the lunches into three categories: full price, reduced price, and free. The picture she paints of school lunches is one of reheated fast foods, and lunches are governed by lots of regulations and nutrition requirements. These regulations are important, because if the food doesn’t meet certain stipulations, the school will not get reimbursed by the federal government. Additionally, if they do not record correctly how many paid, reduced price, or free lunches they sell, they also lose funding.... ...
Pictures displayed in grocery stores paint a picture of American farmers harvesting only the freshest production for your consumption. The truth is the majority of our food is from factories, not farms. Assembly line production has lead to human and animal abuse. Industrial food began with fast food restaurants. McDonald’s revolutionized food production by introducing factory like production into their restaurants, this was dubbed “McDonaldization”. Employee’s were viewed as replaceable, treated poorly, and paid low wages. Workers were taught and expected to carry a mentality of conformity. Factory production of food uses people in assembly lines to perform like machines performing the same task over and over. Abuse of migrant workers has also been found in many processing plants, hiring migrant workers for less pay and more dangerous jobs is common. Nicknamed “human machines” factory workers in slaughter houses, meat packing plants, and processing plants are required to perform repetitive motions more a meager pay, stripping them of their identity as humans. Workers are abused and used until they can no longer perform their duties and they are let go and replaced. Another reason migrant workers are often used is because they simply won't complain. Big companies seek workers from Mexico to come work in their plants because they know migrant workers are here illegally and will not
As people immigrated to the United States, legally and illegally, particularly Hispanic workers, they began to look for jobs to provide for their families. They took jobs that Americans did not want: they accepted the low-paying, physically-demanding, and temporal agriculture jobs. Since many did not speak English and were uneducated, some even illiterate, they were easy targets for farm owners to exploit. Immigrant workers were often not paid, had low wages, and because of such conditions, some even died. In addition, they also lived and worked in appalling conditions, some workplaces did not even have suitab...
The critics argue that significant numbers of illegal immigrants harm the economy by displacing low-skilled natives, and depressing the wages but in reality, who works in farming occupations? Who works in cleaning occupations? Who works in food preparation occupations? Last but not least, who works on constructions and countless other heavy and dangerous jobs? The immigrants do. If one is truthful and honest, he/she will agree with one on that. The majority of the native Americans do not like to work on these jobs. As for some of the companies, it will be tough for them to sustain without illegal immigrants. According to Peter Katel in his article “Illegal Immigration,” it states that, “Indeed, some sectors of the economy might have a hard time functioning without illegal workers,” which supports Pilardi’s stance.
Eric Schlossers book Fast Food Nation is not only an expose of the fast food industry but also shows how the fast food industry has shaped and defined society in America and other nations as the fast food culture spreads globally. He connects the social order of society to the kind of food it eats and the way it eats that food, and relates fast food to other social processes and institutions. His facts are based on years of research and study, and are presented in and easy to follow narrative. Schlosser is so thorough and convincing in his argument, it's impossible to read this book and not feel disenchanted by the unethical practices of fast food companies, shocked at its effect on our society, and empowered to do something about it. Fast Food Nation takes a look at what we don't see behind the fast food business, and questions a high cultural cost verses a low dollar value meal.
While the legal citizens are complaining about illegal immigrants taking up jobs in the low wage sector, this is not true. Undocumented immigrants are able to access those jobs because of the immobility of the American citizens working in the low wage sector (Nadadur 1048). On the other hand, the efforts of undocumented immigrants are not only realizable in the low wage sector, but also high wage sector that provides for white-collar jobs. Some of the illegal immigrants that reside in United States are highly qualified professionals and their input is significant in driving the U.S economy to greater heights. Within the population of undocumented immigrants,
Bills and laws that treat undocumented immigrants poorly and unfairly do not achieve our goal. Instead of denying them work, we should assist them in gaining papers and helping them find a road to citizenship. People flee to America because of its promise: the promise of opportunity for all. Coming to flee war, escape oppression, have a voice in the government, worship freely, and leave poverty behind, aliens arrive in America only to receive poor treatment all over again. The chance of getting a job is slim for illegal immigrants since it is against the law to hire an undocumented alien, but employers know they can be hired for cheap labor (“Immigration Issues.” Illegal Aliens). The jobs offered to undocumented immigrants are typically undesirable for United States citizens since they require manual and arduous labor in most cases. So truly, without these immigrants, many of these jobs would go
It is seen through The Jungle that workers were placed in unsafe conditions with unfair wages. The companies were able to make women and children work for less, and when people began to fail or become useless at their jobs, the company would fire them and hire new people. This problem has not been resolved. As it is seen in Food Inc., industries continue to use their workers unfairly. Businesses will hire undocumented workers, allowing them to get around minimum wage and labor laws. The companies pay the workers less and work them harder. Once the company decides the undocumented workers are no longer needed, they will call immigration and have them taken away. Food packing industries continue to treat people with a lack of respect while placing their workers in unsafe
Whether or not the gig economy is as big as some suggest, it’s clearly part of the future labour market. Even if it doesn’t overtake the traditional job sector, it’ll nonetheless continue to have an influence on the global job market and economy.
Mexico, with half its population under 30, is struggling to find enough jobs for the young people who enter the workforce each year (“Mexicans”). Mexicans have often seen a better opportunity for work in the United States. These immigrants “are commonly hired at wages below the legal minimum, working in unsafe conditions, and facing inhumane and discriminatory treatment” (“Immigration and Naturalization Service”). Many immigrants find work as a migrant worker, in fact “25% of 1-2 million farmworkers in the U.S. are undocumented immigrants” (Passel and Cohn). Tens of thousands of migrant workers travel to North Carolina each year to harvest tobacco (“Conditions in Fields”).
Editorial. Nations Restaurant News 11 Nov. 2005: n. pag. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 5 Mar. 2013.
American culture is changing dramatically. In some areas it’s a good thing, but in other areas, like our food culture, it can have negative affects. It is almost as if our eating habits are devolving, from a moral and traditional point of view. The great America, the land of the free and brave. The land of great things and being successful, “living the good life.” These attributes highlight some irony, especially in our food culture. Is the American food culture successful? Does it coincide with “good living”? What about fast and processed foods? These industries are flourishing today, making record sales all over the globe. People keep going back for more, time after time. Why? The answer is interestingly simple. Time, or in other words, efficiency. As people are so caught up in their jobs, schooling, sports, or whatever it may be, the fast/processed food industries are rapidly taking over the American food culture, giving people the choice of hot
I spent the next twenty minutes, at least, getting to know more about the Town Kitchen through its Chief Operations Officer, Tara Mutukisna. I had had a boxed lunch of theirs at an event last month about racial segregation in the restaurant industry. I learned that Town Kitchen keeps their food from spoiling between being cooked and reaching the customer-- who is often a corporate worker, since Town Kitchen currently depends on scale for efficiency-- by planning and executing careful refrigeration and immediate, efficient trips. I learned that the program coordinator there is a social worker with a background in counseling, whic...