WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Setting Top Chefs on a Senior Living Career Course
By Sara Wildberger E
njoying a meal from a chef trained at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), the Ivy League–level college
of the culinary arts, is a peak dining expe- rience. But these top chefs aren’t headed only to New York and Paris to practice their expertise after they graduate. Thanks to a program designed by Lynne Eddy, CIA associate professor and registered dietitian, more grads are aware of—and choosing— careers at senior living communities. Eight years ago, Eddy proposed a 15-week
course, “Foodservice Management in Health Care,” as an elective for the CIA bachelor’s program. The course covers topics ranging from nutrition principles to confi dentiality to purchasing. A capstone project requires students to visit, evaluate, and report on the foodservice operations of a local hospital or a CCRC. Here, Eddy shares some of the concepts
behind the course, what makes senior living dining diff erent from a workforce perspec- tive, and ways to help raise awareness about these careers.
First: The news is good Many student chefs are greeting the pros- pect of a career in senior living or health care dining with enthusiasm. The course is
a hit: Eddy off ers it only once a year—and it always has a waiting list. Eddy had anticipated having to counter
stereotypes about green Jell-O and bland purees. CIA chefs, after all, are training for the Ritz-Carltons of the world. But this is “the same audience for today’s CCRCs,” Eddy pointed out. Their global, sophisticated palates welcome the work of great chefs: “The residents may have eaten Peking duck in Asia, and they can tell you if the fl avors are right.”
Challenges: Vive la diff érence Restaurant work makes big demands: You must work long and unpredictable shifts and thrive on tension. In a senior living culinary program, the hours are more predictable. The degree of planning and exactitude
required in senior living dining can also be a change from restaurant work. “We in health care are very rigid—it’s more like baking, or pastry; it’s more like a laboratory,” Eddy said. “You can’t have too much potassium, for instance. You can’t just use your own recipe.” Eddy said her students learn to regard those limitations as creative challenges.
Making the case for careers Finding work after graduation is a top con- cern to all students—so when grads who took
WHAT’S THE RECIPE FOR SENIOR LIVING LEADERS?
• Allow for culinary inspiration. “Don’t get stuck in a three-week repeating menu groove,” Eddy said. “You’ve got to keep it seasonal, cost-effi cient, and international.”
• Keep supporting a good work-life balance for your chefs and foodservice professionals. It’s a major draw. “Continue off ering those great benefi ts. It’s reasonable to work 40 to 50 hours a week—not 60.”
36 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE MAY/JUNE 2018
• Partner with a local culinary college and support its career fairs and internship programs. School is expensive; a scholarship program can create a lasting relationship and pipeline of highly qualifi ed workers.
• Start early: Raise awareness—and off er work—to high schoolers, too. They’re already planning their college course and their careers.
Thought Leader Profi le
Lynne Eddy RND, FAND Associate Professor, The Culinary Institute of America
the class were getting internships and several job off ers, it attracted attention. Through a career fair, fi eld trips, guest speakers, and Eddy’s own eff orts, students get ample con- nections and real-world information on ca- reers in health care and senior living. Eddy counsels some students to go out and learn in the hectic hotel and restaurant world for their early career, before they have families—then come to health care. For later-career chefs, who may themselves be facing physical limitations, the benefi ts of working in a senior living culinary program “really hit home,” Eddy said. “In health care, you can have phenomenal benefi ts, great work conditions, and good quality of life. You can have a personal life—you might even work a Monday to Friday schedule, or alternate weekends.”
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