Day 1 Nutrition /Healthy Eating Camp

Morning started today earlier that I have been accustomed to lately, still in pain, still struggling in the a.m. However, this day is the first working day for our Summer Nutrition Camp. Our kids moved in to University of Chicago yesterday afternoon and this morning we woke them, got them, going and walked our students the 6 blocks to the dinning hall. They think they hated the walk but I am the one in pain. I can't for the life of me understand why anyone of these kids are walking slower than me. I can't keep pace with everyone but these are healthy teenager that need to get on the ball.

This is my first time working this camp. I'm not completely sure about why I didn't participate last year, but I think I wanted to establish myself better with my permanent student body. Last year's Summer session was only my second session at my school.

Their safety and sanitation class is beginning shortly, and I will post again later today.

Buyer's Remorse

I wish that food was not political but frankly decisions about who gets to eat and who doesn't are very often determined in business and political offices around the world. Here in Illinois as we sit post election where Republican Governor Bruce Rauner ceased the office looking at such changes in funding, budgets, and allocations that are threatening to close our community colleges and leaving our public school without funding. Without a signed budget, state officials cannot draft a payment to anyone in excess of $600. For the second time this year, the Illinois Lottery officials are once again issuing IOU's instead of payouts.

All sorts of ripples can be felt within out city due to a shift change in political offices. Chicago Public School feels the squeeze and the Chicago teachers has already given the strike authorization to the union. If the union strikes, and it is looking very likely that they will, this will effect all sorts of things including, the need for alternative daytime supervision for the students, eliminate student access to the school feeding programs that lots of families rely heavily upon to meet their daily needs during the day, and need to get syllabus changes done to accelerate leaning in order to catch up on missed lessons.  These turns of events are costly in many ways but are a direct result of voting habits.

Illinois is a conservative state who mostly vote Republican, but the largest population resides in Cook County, which includes Chicago and some of the outlying suburbs, who traditionally vote Democratic and have a much more progressive outlook. Low turnout for our local elections have resulting in the election of another Republican Governor, but this time the office is held by a millionaire business person who has little experience in politics, some are so bold to say that Rauner paid for the office by out spending his rival for the office. So here we are, at a fork in the road, with the bigger picture of the states future and direction in jeopardy, as the Governor sees the state operation like a business issuing reductions here, there, and there, to save the state money instead of reviewing social, economic,  and educational efforts as a investment in the growth and sustainability of the state.

Now that all that I had feared about the last elections have come true, many voices, individuals and organizations, are now very vocal about the results. This is too little to late. Where were you guys for early voting, along the campaign trail, and on election day?? Some voters feel buyer's remorse because the believe that they were tricked into voting for a guy and now he is working against what the voter thought was going to happen during his reign.

I get upset by the rhetoric and posturing of those in office and the lack-luster eligible voters that helped to put us in this state. Food and shelter should not be dependent on politics or interrupted by politics. The who, what, when and how citizens gain access to required nutrition cannot be successful when left up to politics. Food procurement and access, cannot, should not, must not, be controlled by the few and doled out to the masses. This makes food a weapon or a tool of power instead of a human right. We as a society, have seen what happens when politics gets involved, just think about a homeless man sleeping on the street. Got a picture in your head? Good. What lead this person, a human being, into this situation? How did he lose access to shelter and regular meals? Why is it that he suffers from a lack of safety and care? When was the last time he could go a doctor? How much longer will he suffer in this situation which, without any doubt, will shorten his life span dramatically.

Voter action helps to protect the weakest member of our society, move incentives and actions in the direction that they agree upon, give the ability of fund initiatives the voters see as needed, and assist to educate our students which will foster the next generations of thinker, leaders, and voters. We are all effected by politics and I hate that, but it is a fact. The few take more than their share leaving the masses scrambling for the crumbs.

No matter where you are on the political food chain and no matter how you define your political philosophy, active participation is required. You can't stand back and expect others to vote the way you would like them to in your stead as you sit at home. You must participate. It's like all the lookie loos jamming up traffic trying to get a glimpse of the road side accident, knowing full well that they have no intent to help.  

So today we are still seeing the results of Britain's political actions and more importantly inaction. After the count was taken, the citizenry of one of the largest former empires on the planet, discovered that the vote went against what the majority, or so it is said, wanted the Parliament to do in the face of the issue to divest from the EU. Lots of political action now after the dye were cast. This is a prime example of how a democracy fails instead of triumphs.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36420148

Let's take the example to heart when the polls open again here on your own territory. We still suffer hate speech, low down dealings, discrimination, lawlessness, bigotry, xenophobia, and all sorts of explorations of women, young girls, immigrants, unlawful imprisonment by our own officials, abuses of power, and hatred that results in unequal pay, lack of access to resources such a food and shelter. and the list continues. How can we unravel the tapestry that we have weaved through our shared history if we don't make our vote count?

Who The Hell Are You Anyway?

You may have had a dream nestled in your heart from a long time back. You may have just recently been struck by a million dollar idea. Either way, the vision, the notion, the mere undefined dream, will never become a concrete certainty without you and your effort/ability. You have been given the gift of the idea and now you must act or see it die on the vine.

But who the hell are you anyway? Are you the candle or the light? How dare you define yourself differently that your peers, colleagues, and family? You may even, when thinking about this vision, discount your own ability to get it done. Why you? Why not you?

I can include a long list of "self-made" men that have gathered great fortunes in this country not so long ago. What really set them apart from so many others that had very similar lives and backgrounds? I believe that a large part of what occurred was simply because they were never told they couldn't do something great.

Everyone hears negative speech coming from detractors who wish to keep you from reaching your full potential. Some negative voices are not so deliberately negative but only mean to convey a cautionary tone. All of our human drive and direction often falls very short of the true potential within everyone. We use a small amount of our total brain power, for example, so it can be very easy to see the world around through a very narrow slit.

Don't be upset by the detractors. Not everyone can come along with you on your ride in life, most must make new paths in the forest of life alone. If you listen, or worse yet, take to heart the negative speech, you are halting  your true self growth. You are the gift, you are the dreamer, and only you can't make your dreams come true. It is said that the profit is not welcome in his own house, meaning those closet to you can be the biggest roadblock you will encounter.

Every business begins with an idea, a dream, and that dream can create jobs not only for the dreamer but for the community, the families, and those who will be born later on in the time stream. A simple idea to open a little shop can turn and turn and turn, into a huge corporation or create a new item never before thought about. Every time you purchase something from a small business you are creating wealth that will support families, youth sports, community arts, and much more. It is the small business that directly influences the local economy.

So who the hell are you anyway? You are the vessel that may one day see an out-pouring so large that all around you, the supporters and the employees, will be blessed by your efforts. Doubting your talents, second guessing your pathway, waiting for your friends and family to support your dream, or even underwriting the efforts, often times delays and kills the dream altogether.

Define and outline who you are for yourself. I am _____, I want ____, I can ____. I do what I do because this is who I am and this is one of the few things that I do very well. I make edible art for people and teach young people to do the same. This was no one else's dream for my life but mine. Others had their own ideas of who I could have or should have become, but alas, I am the only one that has to live this life so why should I make it someone else's dream for me? Or is it that other people are defining your life in directions that please them, something to brag about to others? 'My son is a doctor.  What did your kid become?"

Live your life earning money by doing what you were called to be, what makes you happy, and then your happiness will make others happy as well. I never again wish to work at making another person rich while I eat the crumbs off the grown folks table. My pound of flesh has been taken and I have no more to give.

Find your identity, ask yourself who you are, dream the dreams you wish to live. Don't stop until the battle is won. I am someone worthy of wealth, love, honesty, respect, blessings, responsibilities, honor, genuine friends, and all the other priceless things of this life.... and so are you!

Be the dreamer but always work three times harder towards your dream than you do anything else for you are the only one that can conjure up the mojo to turn a simple dream into a reality.

Spring Flurries

While this may sounds like a weather report, it is not, and Chicago often has snow in Spring. What I am referring to is the storm of change and work tied into our programming during the Spring sessions. The last month or more has been fantastically busy and rewarding. My last session ended near the end of May and due to all the extra work needed, it became difficult to make all of the appointments.

Scholarship competitions, fundraisers, meetings, professional development, interviews for Summer term, planning, syllabus modification, more meetings, doctor appointments, medical issues, orchestra and band concerts, field trips, and the closing of my own kids schooling for the year. Phew.

Now things can slow down a bit and leave me to do some catching up. The first thing on my list was to catch up on some missed sleep. Recharging is essential. These last weeks proved to be telling me that I am a bit more fragile than I'd like to admit.

Some hard work comes with the satisfaction of knowing that you didn't let it beat you in the end. Some hard work comes with little visible evidence of success. And some hard work doesn't pay off right away, they are the long-term gains that manifest over lots of years. I have been asked if I thought that teaching culinary at this level was harder than working in the industry, quick and without hesitation, my answer was yes.

There isn't a single parent that hasn't questioned their skill based upon the child's advancement or success despite the fact that a lot of things that happen along a child's life, especially in teenage years that may have nothing to do with parental input. Years and years later, most of the successful adults, will say that their parental influence was positive and necessary, even when the adult may have dropped out of school or had a teenage pregnancy, or any other negative impact on life that we can all agree makes life much harder to be successful.

I count it all profitable to gain even the smallest shift in a students opinion, taste, or concept of the world at large. I dance when a kid goes from "that's nasty" to "wow, I like that".  The work can take a long time, can be hard to do, requires that I trust my kids in class and that they trust me. I have to position myself somewhere between a parental role, a type of friendship, a teacher, and a wise elder in order to do what I do successfully. This work is also about how the student sees themselves and their future.

I have always began each term with asking the kids to write about their life goals. Those kids who have been in my class in multiple times, have had the answers on the page turn from "I don't know" to "I'd like to become _____". I have heard, and witnessed, kids begin to take small steps to change what they eat, how they project themselves, how they see themselves, how they expect certain reactions from me and how we interact. To have a student start off with no idea who they want to be and have no care about what they eat, change towards a new image and shoot for much higher goals, it is all worth the effort.

I have set a personal goal with this blog and related podcast, having a regular scheduled time table, so when I have to miss days, I get a bit hard on myself, but I am working on letting go of negative self-talk.

Spring is all about new growth and return of better weather, a renewal. Rebirth. Imagine, as we all post pictures about graduations, proms, and Spring weddings, that we are all just Spring flowers nestled under the cold blankets of winter, just aching for Spring rains to melt off our heaviness and allow us to bloom.

Elevator Pitch

If you have any type of career training in the last 20 years or so, you have probably heard about the 'elevator pitch', a short synopsis that gives the listener a clean, precise, understanding of who you are and what you desire to achieve. Two years ago, I turned a short bus ride into a shift in my career path.

The story goes, I had a free convention pass to the National Restaurant Association show at McCormick place. Parking is always hard to find and frequently expensive, I took public transportation. I entered the bus, and sitting a couple of rows back from the driver, was a guy in his chef coat that looked familiar. It took me a few to put it all together but I realized that this chef and I had been connected via social media for a couple of years. Chef Blackmon is a very talented person who is in charge of culinary arts training for Chicago Public Schools. I am limiting his role to just this aspect of what he does for teenagers all over the city of Chicago, Illinois.

As we spoke about our industry, I expressed my desire to begin teaching and had found the school applications online were almost completely geared to academic educators, making it difficult for someone like myself to successfully apply. The story goes, there are often openings for skilled instructors, and I put myself up for nomination and swift as I could emailed my resume. Almost two months later, I got a call about my resume, Chef Blackmon had forwarded my information on to another program in need of instructors. Even without having an opening with CPS, I was afforded the opportunity to interview for another position.

Sometimes you wait in a hallway wondering which door will open for you, other times you wait in waiting rooms seeking the door to get out into a hallway, a path towards new goals. You never know what connection you will make that can propel you into new spheres. Always be closing because when you are not, there is a risk of missing your change to jump in the deep end. No more kiddie pool for me.

Some people are put off by this ideal as they may not be comfortable talking about themselves. I am not quick to do so either, I don't have much of an ego, but I have learned to give out pieces of my career as validation of my skills and ability. Sometimes that's all you really need to do prior to sending off your resume, or even at the interview. For the food business, a portfolio can do tons of bragging for you, not having to speak a word, it is always helpful to have pictures of your work, easily available online for customers and potential employers to review.  This invaluable tool can speak for you, even when there isn't a new opportunity readily available, and having this presence can really come to arms for you.

Our industry runs on sensory perceptions, sights, sounds, smells, and taste all come together to judge your work. While I know you can't duplicate, or represent, all the aspects of food we love without being there in the moment, but pics can be a valuable representation of what is possible. Once you have peeked someone's interest then you can duplicate the experiences.

Always be prepared because not all opportunities come neatly packaged with a bow on top, or are scheduled on a calendar. Be ready, be a pinch polished, learn to speak to your skills instead of heaping on details about yourself to fed your ego.

Power of Words

When you think of chefs you may not think about them as wordsmiths. Be sure that we are a group greatly entrenched in language.  We have a long history and our own lingo. This realm of terms, definitions, and understanding both describes and confines us. Chefs notoriously use language that some find offensive as a daily ritualistic release of tension.

The language of food is important and chefs rely upon it to convey clarity when speaking about a food request. Having said that, I am a chef who is rubbed the wrong way when people misuse a culinary term but expect to receive exactly what they have envisioned instead of what they have asked for to eat. If you asked for the Tomato Florentine soup, you can't be upset by the presence of spinach, for example, as Florentine means spinach in the kitchen.

Recently, I was on a mini-vacation and was looking for food fair. I called the near-by Cracker Barrel and asked if their were gluten-free options on the menu. They said yes, but when I arrived the menu did not have gluten-free pancakes or waffles nor biscuits, they brought an alternative menu that gave both nutritional information and pointed to some menu items as safe for my consumption. Offering me a bowl of oatmeal, fresh fruit, or steak and eggs, is not offering me options. I found it insulting that this was all that was offered and I didn't need them to tell me the fruit was gluten-free. By the way, the oatmeal was amazing and I had an order for dinner later on that weekend, but that is not the point. When I think of Cracker Barrel, IHOP, Original Pancake House, or any other breakfast spot it should not be difficult to make adjustment for alternative eaters, and shame on those who have the boldness to offer me fresh fruit as if I don't understand what gluten-free means.

Re-branding food items under new labeling is a funny thing these days. Every trip to the grocer has me laughing as the things that should be relied upon to be gluten-free have redesigned packaging to inform us of this new revelation of food category. I don't need anyone to tell me that unpopped whole popcorn is gluten-free, what's next, gluten-free water?

Language can bind us together with a common ground of understanding and communication but also can divide us with a loss of clarity or misunderstanding. For many consumers who purchase gluten-free items, not all of us must buy these items for health reasons like I do, but rather buy these items because the term is trendy and new-ish. I'd even bet there are some who couldn't accurately define the term but swears that it is bad for your health. No, no, no... It isn't good for my digestion, not everyone's. 

It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go on

In this industry, lots of us dream of having our own outlet, some place as unique as we are talented. What is seldom taught, is what an individual must do to make their business ownership dreams come true. Culinary school focuses you for production work, and sometimes for artistic work, with food. It can take you down the nutritional information highway, the chemical action, the application of different heat sources, all the applied science of food.

Colleges will teach accounting but not often teach entrepreneurship, how to get licensed, deal with inspections, picking a great location, managing all the in's and out's of a business, how to find startup funding, and the like. So many many times, there are business partners needed for a chef to have a good place to launch their restaurant. Often times, family members will steak their savings or collateral to have funding enough to open a business, and it doesn't always work out.
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No one person is a master of all the disciplines needed for a successful operation. It can take two, or three, or more to help steer the ship and avoid the icebergs. A startup business can take a lot of capitol to get started and with the 60% failure rate of all food related business within the first year, it can be very difficult to accrue capitol to work with when starting out. And besides, no chef really wants to be tied to a desk, dealing only with orders and payroll, and typically that is a waste of talent that could be working on the plates instead of the books.

If you grew up like I did, from a middle class working home, then you may have a similar experience of having few relatives that understand your goals of business ownership. It isn't that they don't want you to succeed, it often is just not a path they understand or they would rather see you on a 'safe' path to wealth. Unfortunately, there are no safe paths anymore. So I am of the mind that, if you are going to work, you can either work and make someone else rich or you can take the risk to make yourself rich.

Funding is a interesting topic that many people are nervous to speak about, I think it's because not enough of us understand it. Macro and micro economics can be hard to manage, and those who have figured out how to use it productively are not giving their secrets away. "Just buy my new book" or "Sign up for my new seminar". People are willing to pay for advise with money and can often take differing approaches much like a fad diet habit.

Here's the real scoop. Any successful organization is created by putting the best person in charge of one or more aspects of the business. Even the President of the U.S. has a trusted cabinet to support his efforts. A good chef should both know their strengths and weaknesses. Our industry is filled with managers who have never been a chef and chefs who have never run an office. If you don't fully understand what the people you are managing do, need to do, and what it takes to do what you are requesting, is a no-win situation. The reverse is also true, if a chef doesn't understand how to manage a kitchen, invoicing, purchasing, P&L, and human resources issues.

Dream big but understand even the best of us cannot go it alone. Knowing where in the organization you contribute the best can save you effort, time, and money. Find a great business partner before opening or even planning to open a food business. Team work, a realistic budget, designing phases of growth, adopting to the customer needs, i.e. sound business practices makes all the difference in the world.