School Food Service Consultant: Fill & Download for Free

Honestly nothing. The problem starts at home, I believe. Let me explain. Years ago, I worked for a corporate catering company as a consulting chef. The company (we’ll call it ABC) has a contract with a large school district school district which had requested a change in the contract. They wanted a healthy food station added to the high school cafeterias. Let me explain, the HS had large station like cafeterias, with different stations serving different set meals, following some guidelines set by the government. The cafe also had a row of vending machines that ABC had to restock daily. So we quickly added a Salad Bar, and used the opened spaces for our new concept. We worked with the “Healthy Living” magazine, and incorporated their menu into the meal services. My job was to teach cafeteria workers who to cook the new menu, what the new ingredients were (quinoa, spelt, etc), oversee the training and usage of new equipment (industrial steamers), and proper handling of new ingredients. It was quite an outlay by the district, with renovations and new equipment, signage, and bragging to parents in newsletters and bulletins. On the day school started the school board and local politicians came and ate at the largest campus, along with local tv and print journalists. Beyond those 25 people do you know how many meals were sold to a campus of a thousand kids? None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Not a single one. The salad bar did ok, but that was mainly ranch dressing based, the “healthy dressing options” were not touched. This went on for the school year. The district lost lots of money as ABC had made sure that this was on the district and not ABC, and at the end of the year (after I was long gone) the districts kept the salad bars, and changed the Healthy Living station to Italian food.So, the students were given a decent healthy option, and never took it. Is this the failure of the system, or of home education? I would say home. If you are not teaching your kid to eat properly at home how can you expect them to eat properly when you’re not around. When they prefer Cheetos to quinoa, it’s a losing game.At the end of the day, the cafeteria’s job is to feed children. If the children would rather not eat at all, and the food goes in the wastebasket, how is that the cafeteria workers fault? I’ve seen it. It’s heartbreaking. So, at the end of the day, you cook things for them that they will eat.Like all things, a better education at home, leads to a better life overall.

Here are some ways:Catering (taking gigs for individuals, events, companies, venues)Making a food product to sell (directly, to stores, to restaurants, etc.)Owning a small cart, stand, or food truckOwning their own restaurant (a form of self-employment, a restaurant is a bit like a giant food truck on steroids)Teaching classes, running a cooking school or community kitchenHolding chef-themed food events, special dinners, an underground restaurant in somebody else's spaceWriting cookbooks, reviews, columns, becoming a food personalityConsulting (on restaurant openings, food service questions, etc.)Being available for short term engagements (not steady work)Being a private chef for one or more people, companies, or families

I am a Registered Dietitian and I work at a dialysis center.I think the most important thing you need to know, is that if you are passionate about nutrition and want to "help people get healthy", not a very large percentage of your job will be doing that specifically in almost every field of dietetics. A minority of dietitians actually do nutrition counseling and lifestyle changes. Most dietitians do other things, like:1. Hospital Dietitian. This is where you go around to different patients and assess their nutrient intake and whether or not they are meeting their needs. They could need a supplement, an intervention like a Tube Feeding or TPN, or calorie/protein and Tube Feeding calculations if the doctor has ordered. Very few consultations are actually for education, and if they are, it is not a good environment to educate, and the most you usually do is leave a handout and ask a few questions. Most people don't take much away from this education, which brings me to...2. Outpatient Dietitians. These dietitians could work in diabetes, pediatrics, or some combination of specialties. A lot of your work ends up being paperwork - billing, reimbursements, etc., unless you work for a hospital who is able to submit that stuff for you. Even so, many clients do not come back and/or don't end up following your advice, so it's hit or miss.3. Private Consultants. This is more in line with what people "think" dietitians do, charging a fee to help people lose weight or get healthy, and for this position - many are called, few are chosen. It is one of the more sought after jobs, and much of the time they are taken by very experienced dietitians, or you have to hang your own shingle and figure out how to advertise and attract clients, which can end up being the majority of your job.4. Food Service Dietitians. A number of dietitians actually work in food service management - meal planning and coming up with menus to feed large numbers of people, e.g., in schools or hospitals. This is probably the best paying position that is not entrepreneurial in spirit. It also requires management of food service staff and knowledge of inventory, ordering, budgets, etc.5. A plethora of other little niches that end up being very specific. I am a Renal Dietitian, and work with patients with kidney disease. 50% of my job is paperwork and reporting. At least. There are metabolic dietitians who work with people with PKU and other metabolic disorders, like Maple Syrup Urine Disease. There are Certified Diabetes Educators, which fit more into outpatient dietitians. There are WIC dietitians who work for the state, and move up into management.The main question is, why do you want to be a dietitian? What do you want to do? And will you end up doing what you thought you would be doing if you go through the steps to become a dietitian? I sure didn't. I thought I would be helping people lose weight and get healthy, but the demand for that isn't too high because many people are not willing to pay for that, and if they are they want a "quick fix" and not have to continue meeting with a dietitian and working on their diet for long periods of time. So most dietitians don't actually do that. And the next question is, then, how does your passion translate into your need for income? Do you want to do something you are passionate about, but squeak by financially? Do you see yourself making a ton of money by selling diet plans and nutrition books? If so, more power to you, but it's going to take a lot of work and the ability to hustle your way up to the top 10% of dietitians out there who are already trying to do that and end up doing it as a side gig while they work at the hospital.Let me know if I can help in any way, and I hope you figure out what you'd like to do with your career!