[Parent-Network] Food issues

[Kevin Mahoney]

I have operated Food Service operations in several different "boarding" type
institutions. Although I am in another industry now I was always struck by
some common threads or "truisms" in the field.. No matter what you serve
some will like it and some won't. Assuming that you are using good
ingredients and good preparation you will still have a number of unhappy
people, This is not an indication of chronic complainers or people who have
an ax to grind, but real issues. I have eaten at Willamette at times where
no other parents were there and have a pretty good idea of the day to day
fare. In all cases I found it to be top-notch. Why the complaints? In an
institution food is the one thing that everyone has in common. Everyone is
an expert and has an opinion. No matter what you serve food is an issue in
this environment. Outside the institution we have an infinite number of food
choices both at home and out. When this is no longer true the problems can
start.
The biggest single thing you can do as an institution to minimize this
problem is to involve the residents in the process. Even if nothing changes
the involvement makes a huge difference. It would seem as if the school, the
food service company and the students have a good forum for this and are
open to working together. I too am pleased that the onus is on the kids to
involve themselves and that the other players seem to be very open and
non-defensive about it. 
  I do have one other sure-fire solution. I was touring a prisons food
service one time and noticed hundreds of huge bottles of Tabasco Sauce in
the pantry. When I asked about it I was told that they used to have a lot of
complaints about the food until they started giving the Tabasco to the
prisoners. Since that time complaints had dropped to almost zero - go
figure.
 
Kevin Mahoney
k <mailto:kevin at Enfield motorcycles.com> evin at Enfield motorcycles.com
www.enfieldmotorcycles.com <http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/> 

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