Farm Tour

Today was a fabulous day! I got to tour several local farms and see what kinds of produce they had to offer. ISU is trying to move to more sustainable practices in support of environment consciousness. Buying from local vendors not only is beneficial to the environment by lowering carbon dioxide emission and price from reduce transportation, it also supports the community, provides a more nutritious product, and local products have much more flavor! (One of my favorite things to eat is a fresh garden tomato with some salt and pepper :)

Our day began with reviewing a handout provided by Cornell University discussing the proper growing, cleaning, and handling of local produce. There were specific guidelines that farmers need to be aware of concerning restrooms on the property, timing of manure, pets on property, sanitation of workers, cleaning the produce etc. From a University stand point quality as well as food safety for all of the students is vital to consider. These guidelines must be reviewed and followed to prevent any potential outbreaks.

We visited three farms that were fairly close to ISU. The farms were absolutely gorgeous. The rolling plains of corn field after corn field is a landscape I am very unfamiliar with coming from Utah. The gardens were HUGE! Row after row were different variety of lettuce, tomatoes, cabbages, and peppers. It was also very fun to get meet the farmers. Growing up in the city suburbs, I never really have met a real full time farmer. The farmers were browned from many days spent under the sun. Their handshake was firm and their hands were rough and calloused from years of working on the farm. They knew so much about the land and different farming techniques and equipment. It was a very different experience and way of living. I'm very glad to have seen a glimpse of the way of life of the American Farmer.

The group I went with were from ISU very pleased with what they found on the local farms and will hopefully be making their first purchases this upcoming fall.

 This is me looking trying to stay warm. This was my first cold day in Illinois. Chef Gump is in the orange, Kevin is in the stripes, and the famer is in the background.

This is the friendly HUMONGOUS dog on one of the farms. And by the way- that is a big no no. Pets should not be in the garden if you are selling that produce to people. Just FYI....

Surprise Sanitation Inspection!

I got to participate in a unannounced sanitation inspection of retail operations Einstein Bagels and Burger King. Kristie, a sanitarian and also ISU professor, was performing the inspection. This was not an inspection by the heath department, this is something ISU has set up so that they can personally ensure that they have top quality performance. Usually they are harder than the health departments.

She came unannounced. Upon arrival, we inspected the front of the house and back of the house. We looked under all carts, tables, and counters looking for leaks and crumbs. Temperatures of foods were checked as well as the temps of cooler and freezers. Placement of garbage cans, hand washing sinks, and pipes were checked. Proper labeling was also checked. There is a whole list of numbers listing the different things that should be checked. Every possible issue has a number. This woman had the whole list memorized. After doing insepctions for twenty years, i guess you get pretty good at what you do. She was very thorough but practical.

Some of the issues we came across were mostly cleaning problems. Areas under carts or in between cracks and runners had accumulated crumbs and needed to be clean. At one place the garbage can was too close to the hand washing sink. Another issue was water hoses that were too long, they were touching the ground. They should be at least 2 inches off the ground in case of back up in the drains. Milk cartons that are upturned cannot be used for storage. Cardboard boxes should not be reused for storage - cockroaches can lay their eggs there and cause infestation.

In general, both places scored very high. I have been on the opposite end as a student manager during an inspection and it was much nicer to be the inspector instead of the inspected.

Recipe Testing

This past week I had the opportunity to test recipes for the upcoming "Oktober Fest" in September. Ali - the other intern and I got to work directly with the executive chef with this project. The primary purpose of recipe testing is to first of all make the recipe and measure its quality and quantity. Each ingredient's volume and weight (emphasis added) must be recorded. This information will later be put into CBORD, ISU's computer system used for recording recipes, prices, purchasing orders, etc. The recipe is also taste tested for flavor, smell, texture, and overall appearance. Changes to the recipe and recommendations for changes to try during the next testing are also mentioned.

Working with the executive chef was an experience in and of itself. I learned so much about different food products and how to detect top quality. Listed below is a summary of a few of things he has shared with us.
- use kosher salt with cooking. Iodized salt is bitter, thus you need much more raising sodium content of the food
- To detect the true flavor of vinegar you can dip a sugar cube in the vingar- this binds the acid. then sucking on the sugar cube you can get the true flavor of the wine that is used to make the vinegar. Check to make sure your vinegar has the seal with a code on it - this seal means it is made from top quailty wine. The other stuff is made with the substance used in nail polish removal.
- Check the ingredients of your cream. Top quality cream should just have heavy cream listed for its ingredients. Avoid using products that have several ingredients and preservatives listed.
- Calcium is added to pickled products to give a crispness and crunch. Check for caclium in the ingredients to get a crispy product.
- Buy your sesame oil from Japan. Other countries extract the oil with heat which gives a very poor product.
- Cut your green onions on the bias. Makes a more appealing look on salads.
- A good salad dressing should have a front of the mouth sensation as well as a back of the mouth sensation. For more back of the mouth kick add more vinegar.

Despite the fact that I learned so much working with this experienced chef, there were some problems. A chef is very driven, he/she tries to get all recipes going at once. They are so capable of double, triple, or in our case quadruple tasking. We were working on four different recipes at once. What we were expecting for us to get done in a whole day's time took half that. Chef Tim was very efficient and it was so cool to see him smell or taste a product and know exactly of what it needed. The only problem with that is that recipe testing should be a very meticulous process. The weight and volume of each food is needed. Also any different method of cooking that is used should be recorded for future reference. With how fast things were going it was very difficult for us to get everything weighed, while trying to keep track of how Chef Tim was cooking it. We missed a few things, and we made a few mistakes, but we learned from those, so the next time we test recipes we will be prepared!

Ultimately, it was an amazing learning experience. I am still so intrigued by the skill and knowledge of chefs. The recipes we tested the majority of them turned out great and very tasty!

Counseling Session

I got to sit in on an eating disorder counseling session. Due to privacy concerns, I won't say much about it, but it was an amazing learning experiece.

Dianne, began by catching up on the young woman's life. You could tell Dianne had a very good relationship with this her. And this young woman really knew Dianne cared about her and trusted Dianne, which is key to be of any help. Dianne proceeded to go through what foods were still issues. She then went through which types of foods this young woman ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Dianne allowed this young woman to explain what she was still have problems with, and Dianne also allowed her to argue. It was very intriguing to watch how with every argument Dianne would listen, voice her empathy and understanding, and try to change those arguments and beliefs. this particular woman was very open o what Dianne had to say which I'm sure is the result of a long built relationship of friendship and trust. The session ended with a few small goals to try to incorporate more foods that this young woman was struggling with.

An interesting thing I noted was that this young woman was an expert on nutrition. She was very smart and knew a lot. She also knew a lot of numbers. She rattled off a several different serving sizes. Such as 55 goldfish = 140 calories, 7 wheat thins = 120 calories, 6 triscuits = 150 calories....etc.

The important things I pulled from this, was a lot of things I have mentioned before. The dietitian needs to listen and never judge. The dietitian also needs not only to be a dietitian but a friend to these girls. Dianne did an amazing job at remember specific details to the lives of the young women that come to her. This built a strong relationship between the two that was a perfect environment for healing and progress.

ISO - Illinois Special Olympics

This last weekend was Special Olympics. And boy what a weekend. My part in the whole scheme of thing was to help at the dining centers. I manned the salad bar. I've never had so much fun watching all of the unique salads be created. Many took scoops of every single topping resulting in mountains of food. Others skipped the topping and heading for the dressings, and their salads were more like soup. I've never seen a bigger mess either. There was ranch in the bacon, bacon in the cheese, cheese in the celery, and french dressing all down the sides of the table. Regardless, the athletes enjoyed the food. And we enjoyed serving it to them.

ISU had done the exact same menu for the past three years for this event. They had this thing down to a science. Everything was proportioned out with the exact count from previous years. Everything went very smoothly.

I also got the chance to volunteer for some of the events for special Olympics. My experience can be summed up just like that. It was very special. I feel very privileged to have been able to be a part of this event. These people are so full of happiness, love, and acceptance. Love and joy just radiates from their faces. One of my favorite things was seeing some of the athletes with five or six medals around their necks and proudly telling everyone what they got them for. Special Olympics is an amazing event and it was very cool to see the food service aspect of it, as well as being involved with the events and the athletes.