Chef Shortage

To start off this paper, I have to say I completely agree with the article “Final Thoughts on the Chef and Cook Shortage”.  This article basically covered the huge topics facing this rapidly growing BOH shortage. The author expresses that much of the fault lies with the industry, speaks about the culinary school dilemma and the actual elephant in the room, what everyone wants, compensation. I’d like to start off this paper by talking about the big subject, compensation. In the past, people were willing to work with little to no pay to learn and perfect their culinary skills. In today’s world, with younger people do not have the patience to work for little or no pay. They walk out of culinary school thinking they are completely experienced and prepared for what’s out there in the industry. But as the article says, students walk out of culinary school expecting to land a job as a sous chef. Nobody wants to put in the time or work it takes to actually learn the craft. Today’s world and economy doesn’t allow aspiring chefs to work low wage. I feel as though that is another reason factoring to why students expect to start off with high paying jobs. I was curious about what the average monthly rent is to live in New York City, and I found that is is an average three thousand dollars a month. (1) With a $12-15 hourly wage, do you really think the average line or prep cook can actually afford to live there? Annually, a cook only makes about $21,120 a year. (3) That is nearly not enough to survive on. Line/Prep Cooks get paid so little even though they pull most of the dirty work. Maybe if newly graduated students acquired more experience before they ran out into the real world, maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to land a high paying BOH job. Young people are lazy, enough said. Everyone thinks that the job of a chef is a piece of cake thanks to television and culinary commercials that make culinary school seem so amazing and easy.

Which leads me to the second issue with the industry, our culinary schools. Being in the Culinary program for two years, I’ve learned a lot but I also feel like I could have learned a lot more. Our classes are large, maybe about 20 if no one drops, and there is only one chef instructor. I feel as though everyone doesn’t get the attention that they need. I also feel as our program is too easy to get into. Culinary schools should at least require 6 months of kitchen experience to qualify for the program. I am a very observant person and being in labs, there were many people who were very unsure if they actually wanted to be there. Myself, I had six months of kitchen experience before I even considered applying for the program. Working in the kitchen really was the determining factor for me if I really wanted to dive into the industry or find another career path. Culinary schools need to prepare students more for the real world of a kitchen, they sugar coat things too much. “You made a mistake? Oh don’t worry about it!” No one tells you that in a real kitchen if you burn something then you will get chewed for it. I came across an article that said “50 Things They Never Told You About Being a Chef” (2). They don’t tell you that your joints will get destroyed, your social life will be close to nonexistent, you will rarely be praised for your work, and most of all you will work holidays almost always. Culinary schools, especially ours, have become more about the turnover rate rather than taking the time to really teach students. How can you expect to learn a cuisine or technique in only 9 days? On top of that quizzes every day? This past year the program has been “revamped” but I don’t think it’s for the best, I think it’s more focused on pushing kids out faster and saving money. So I ask myself still, was culinary school even worth it? Should I have just found internships or an apprenticeship instead of spending thousands of dollars on a program that seems to not really care about the craft or skill? Yes, our chef instructors here are spectacular but when they are