By Darien Carroll
Students in the Food Production Management Laboratory class prepare food for the Pendulum Court in the Eyring Science Center as they anticipate the Freedom Feast today, featuring American culture foods.
“I think anything that is American-oriented is fun,” said Ana Mitchell, the Food Production Management Laboratory professor. “We have an amazing country and to celebrate America and our freedom and our right to vote is a great kind of celebration.”
The theme day menu includes All-American cheeseburger and fries, Bush”s Texas BBQ Chicken Salad, Kerry”s Boston Clam Chowder, Star Spangled Cookies, Voter”s Choice Pecan Pie and White House Cinnamon Rolls.
Students in the Food Production Management Laboratory class prepare all the food for the event and for regular business days at the Pendulum Court. The class is required for all junior dietetics majors.
“The idea of the class is to give them further exposure, if they”ve had some, or at least some exposure to what an ideal food service operation should run like,” Mitchell said. “The idea is not for them to learn how to be a cook, but it”s to give them a reference point for food service operation as they go into management.”
Students focus on one of three different areas in their classes: clinical, community or management dietetics. Margan Neumarker, a member of the class, is taking the clinical approach to the dietetics major and hopes to work in a hospital.
“I love food,” Neumarker said. “I really just want to help people understand that food can be good for you and taste good and be healthy too. I think there are so many misconceptions out there about what good health needs to be.”
The two sections of the class meet twice a week, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., to prepare and serve food at the Pendulum Court.
“Sometimes it”s kind of stressful, and we are here for a really long time,” Neumarker said. “We have a heavy course load, so its kind of hard, but other than that, I love it. You get a lot of experience and I feel like this is such an asset to put on my resume.”
Despite the challenging class schedule, Marci Woolley, an intern who graduated in April, said taking the class is a great experience.
“It”s a requirement in the dietetics program, but it”s a really fun class,” Woolley said. “It”s not like your just talking about all this different equipment, you actually get to see, try it out, and find out how it works.”
Students learn culinary techniques and rotate positions in the kitchen, doing any tasks from slicing tomatoes to cooking enchiladas. Training takes place during the first few weeks of the semester, which allows the students to get used to the equipment and learn the preparation process. This helps relieve the students” anxiety, Woolley said.
“I think that after they get over the initial shock of the class and the hour demands, they all have good experiences,” Mitchell said. “They see what an actual production kitchen is like, what it means to be the manager of a kitchen.”
