Half Way Done!

Well, week 4 is officially over, in just under 4 weeks I will be heading home... I can't believe it. As slow as time's been going, missing everyone back home, it has really been flying by, too!

Here's what I've been up to lately:

I've started doing a project with one of the unit managers that used to be a Registered Dietitian. We're looking at the fall menu cycle & condensing it by recipes to see how often & frequent we are serving the different items. We're also looking at each recipe and going ingredient by ingredient to condense that as well. See how many items we are actually using and how often we are using them. We're also trying to order as many of the products we need as possible from our one main supplier, US Foodservice. The idea behind this is that not only will it make things a little easier for the Managers of each unit ordering, but it also contributes to how Yale is trying to reduce their ecological footprint. This is because by ordering from the same person we are reducing the amount of trucks that come onto campus and the frequency of which, which reduces carbon emissions and gas usage. Yale has done many things like this in the last 4 or 5 years which contribute to their attempts to become more sustainable. I think that's such a great idea. Anyways, once we get all the ingredients we need to make sure that they are correctly linked to each recipe so that we can go over all the nutritionals & menu item identifier cards (what's displayed in the dining halls) to make sure that information is correct. Some of the ingredients aren't linked properly (in the computer system they aren't attached to the correct food item), which means our menu item cards aren't giving the correct information.

I've also been doing a little project for the Executive Director. He wants me to go through our Bake Shop recipes and think up ways to reduce the amount of sugar we are using. The buzz appears to be less concerned with fat these days, because of all the types of healthy fat, and more concerned with sodium and processed sugar. It's an interesting & challenging project. The main challenge I find with this is that the field of nutrition is SO much more complicated than just eat what's healthy & avoid what isn't. One of the reasons I love nutrition is because there's just so much to it. Other key factors that have to be taken into consideration is disease and allergies, personal preference, cost, availability, popularity... There are so many things that one needs to take into consideration when feeding a large population like we are. I think that simply reducing processed sugars will be a bit of a challenge. Especially with University students. Not to mention baking is all chemistry, so by chaning one ingredient chances are others will have to be altered as well. Hense why this project is proving to be quite challenging.

Something else I've been working on is going through the complete fall menu cycle to calculate calories, fat, saturated fat and sodium in a serving of all the recipes. Once I have completed this I can go by the options day by day so that the nutritionals are spread out evenly throughout the days. I know one thing our Executive Chef has been working on the last couple weeks (as well as endless amounts of Dining Hall Managers & the Executive Director) is going through the fall menu cycle to try and balance out the foods. Make sure that certain types of food are spread out evenly & there are more popular items on a day with a few less popular so that they aren't all clumped together (that's been a past complaint with the students- some days they find lots they want to eat and others not much at all so Yale Dining's been working hard to change that). They also take into consideration personal preference, so if one of the main chefs really enjoys a certain dish, they may be more likely to put it on the menu than a chef that doesn't particularily like it. So by ensuring the nutritionals are spread out as well, the students can have healthier & less healthy options each day so there is a wider spread of satifcation in their meal choices.

Another project I have been given is to start a running list of all the things wrong (or that we'd just like to change to make it more user friendly) with the current computer system we are using. This will help them in their search for a better one (or upgrade the current one), which they are in the process of doing. Before I leave I will hand in a complete copy (at least, the most complete I can manage) of things they should consider when buying a new system & when starting it up, so that everything is entered correctly & uniformly right from day one. Which is where a lot of the problems we have been running into are coming from. Everyone enters things differently and so the system is kind of a mess. Then when one person leaves, and another takes their place, they will do it differently, too. So for 10 years of numerous people using it & certain positions switching hands, the system is basically impossible to clean. Starting from scratch really seems like their best bet.

Last week I discovered that the nutritionals for the service recipes weren't matching up with the nutritionals from the production recipes, which makes zero sense because the service recipes are created FROM the production recipes. Once I discovered this I had quite a few meetings with head people in the business office here. On Friday I went to try and fix it, and lukcily I was able to. Recipes were just entered into the system incorrectly. But that was a big part of my week last week.

It's been busy and seems to only get busier as the time goes by, I just hope I can make a bit of a difference (preferably for the better) while I'm here!

Into Week 3 at Yale!

I can't believe how quickly the time is passing!

After my original orientations, everything has become a lot busier. I get to work at 8:30am every day & work until 4:30pm, with a half hour lunch. Some of my regular tasks include inputting new recipes into the system on the computers so that all of the dining facilities across campus have easy access to them for ordering and prep purposes. I've also been updating the fall menus. Yale is trying to change their recipes so that everything is made from scratch and trying to choose as many healthy options as possible. This means that a lot of the old recipes used throughout the school year have had to be changed or thrown out altogether. Since many people are in charge of what is served in each dining facility (and those particular people vary according the dining facility), every time someone different looks at the menu and decides that certain recipes don't belong here or would go better here or compliment this recipe better... it means that I have to change the menu in the system, which can be quite time consuming. I've also been attending meetings with the chefs to try and sort everything out and make sure we are putting the correct information into the systems. It can get tricky, though, because the summer is the perfect time to try out all the new recipes (since there's next to no students on campus), so sometimes they haven't tested the recipe quite yet. As they are testing the recipes they've been bringing some of the product to the business office for all the upper management (& me!) to try, so that's been a lot of fun. I've been enjoying attending the meetings because I'm learning all kinds of things about cooking, baking, the organization of foodservice, the responsibilities of chefs and how complex the system can be. Since I've been working with the recipes, I've been getting to know them pretty well, so I can often participate in the meetings which really helps me feel like I'm contributing to Yale Dining as a whole.

My main project throughout my placement is updating the nutritional information in the system. I've been getting into that a little more thoroughly lately as well. I go through the recipes & make sure that the nutritional analysis is correct and if I don't think it is, I flag it and write down what I think is wrong so that upper management can go over it. I've also been making note of the recipes I think could be tweaked to be healthier (example, lower fat and Calories by exchanging margarine for shortening) or recipes that I think they might like to toss altogether because they have a very high amount of saturated fat or sodium, for example. It's been a really great learning experience because I've been able to build on my nutrition background and get a better understanding of the make-up of different foods.

Outside of work has been a lot of fun, too. This past weekend I spent a day in New York City, since it's only a 2 hour train ride from New Haven, CT. I'd never been before, it's such a pretty city! So much life and excitement. I also spent a day with my sort-of supervisor at a family gathering. Since I'm not from anywhere around here I don't know anyone, so I've loved how inclusive everyone is to me. I've been seeing a lot of the area and meeting many new & interesting people.

I'm staying in one of the 12 residential colleges at Yale, Berkeley College. It's located in the center of campus so it couldn't be more convenient. There are some things about living in residence (such as the noise) that I don't miss from my first year, but for the most part it's really good.

I still can't get over how beautiful the campus is. I like to explore in the evenings or on weekends and I thought by now I would be used to the intricate architecture and trees & flower beds everywhere, but I'm not yet. I hope I never do, I love walking around campus in awe and appreciation.

I think that pretty much covers it for now. I'll try to write again soon!

First Week at Yale Dining

I am now starting the second week of my NACUFS internship at Yale. The first week went by so quickly! In comparison to the other internships across the country, mine seems to be very different. I'll explain as I discuss my first week.

When I first arrived I had to get set up with the Office of Interntaional Students and Scholars, since I'm from Canada. After that I came to the business office for Yale Dining and met the staff and learned about what each person is responsible for, which gave me a better understanding of the complexity of University Foodservice (especially on such a large scale). I also was given a tour of the facilities involved in Yale Dining, from the dining halls in each of the 12 residential colleges, to the retail units that serve grab-&-go foods, to the 3 catering companies located on campus, and everything in between. The next few days I spent getting used to Yale Dining as a whole and learning about how to use Foodservice Suite (FSS), the computer program they use that basically does everything food and dining related. This is the program I am going to be working with for the next 7 weeks. Along with getting comfortable using FSS, I learnt about how to receive invoices from the vendors and how to input recipes into FSS. They also arranged time for me to go on a proper tour of the campus, which was really neat because I learned about the history of the school.

My internship at Yale is directed more towards the nutritional aspect of University Foodservice, which is perfect for me since my background is in nutrition. My major project throughout the 8 weeks is to make sure that all of the recipes are properly linked to the correct nutritional analysis. It's been really interesting to see not only how the food is prepared and served (I got to sit in on a guest lecture for the cooks by celebrity chef Mai Pham!), but also how the entire operation is run, and how many people it takes just to make sure the campus is fed, fed healthily and within budget.

I don't have much more interesting to mention as of yet, since it's still mostly been orientation and getting acquainted, but I'm very excited for what's yet to come!