Week 4 at Michigan State

Hey everyone! Dana has been so good about keeping up with the blog, I decided to share this Week 4 of our amazing experience at MSU! My name is Jen Brady and I am from Southern California. I am studying Didactic Dietetics at Purdue and I am enjoying reading everyone's experiences! It makes me want to tour along!

Monday, June 20

Today, we spent the day in Grand Rapids, MI where we toured Gordon Food Service. This monstrosity is a distribution center and retail store for many clients in the US and Canada.

Map of Gordon's clientele

 The Gordon family is on their 5th generation and are very proud to share their mission. We began our tour in the Heritage room, reserved for special guests! There is an antique door used as the entrance to the Heritage room that was kept from the original storefront, wow! Our tour guide explained a LEED certification. It stands for Leadership Energy in Environmental Design. The MSU's dining court at Brody is LEED certified and just won the Silver! After lunch, we met with the Nutrition Resource Center (NRC). They are composed of a team of 12 individuals who manage menu and recipe development, food safety and food allergies, a nutrition database, and product development. This was an exciting part since it was right up our dietetics alley. Their program had an education and healthcare segment. Their education portion focused on having resources, nutrition and ingredients available, and a variety of food choices. They referred to "Making the Grade" for the menus that met federal regulations. The healthcare portion described making the assisted living facilities feel more like a home and not so much a nursing home hospital feel. The NRC is finding ways to offer more options to the catering and cafe. However, they explained that many of the residents are baby boomers who are adventurous whereas the silent generation likes their daily dose of meat and potatoes. It is hard to provide the same menu to both.
After a fantastic learning experience, we headed to the distribution center where we saw the action in full force! This place can only be described as a giant refrigerator storage and shipping center.

Pano of the sorting room

 The majority of the tour was in a 41 degree refrigerator so that the produce would stay fresh. We bundled up in Gordon Food Service jackets to stay warm. All of the employees were working at such a fast rate! It was fun to watch their swiftness as they jumped over the conveyor belt and grabbed the appropriate packages. 

 

 

Packages ready to be shipped

After we exited the cold freezer, we walked into the back of a semi truck to see how the packages are stacked. The frozen food goes first and then a blue insulator separates the frozen from the rest of the order. It was a very fulfilling day to be in Grand Rapids! 

Tuesday, June 21

Another fun day at Brody! I saw one of the students working at Dolce that I have worked with before, so I was comfortable serving desserts for the second time! We are always so surprised when people come up to us for ice cream at 10:30 in the morning; we just laugh! I was assigned to making cookies which is the best job ever! I panned 210 cookie dough balls and had to resist to eat the extras that the bakery packs. It felt good to be complimented at lunch with the managers on the good tasting cookies. I thought they were a little on the toasty and crunchy side, but some people prefer that! I love them soft and chewy like Chef Mary makes them. At the end of the shift, I felt my muscles flexing and bulging from all the ice cream scooping. 

Wednesday, June 22

Today we welcomed the 4H conference in Akers, a new dining court in East neighborhood. I spent half my time with the HR department learning about the hiring/firing process of the culinary services employees. I spent the other half at the salad station keeping toppings full and the counters clean. Once again, the employees I worked aside were fantastic. I liked to see the salad creations pass by with the option to throw some baby kale in the mix. I was very impressed that such a healthy option was offered. After lunchtime, I was paired with a student supervisor to wipe down tables and make sure the salt, pepper and napkins were fully stocked. I enjoyed that too because Byron was fun to get to know and I was doing a job that not everyone would be thrilled about. I don't mind it because it has to be done and I am happy to be involved in the culinary process. The coolest part of the day was the menu meeting. Chef Jason stands in front of the team and explains what station is serving for dinner. 

Menu meeting

Thursday, June 23

It was another early and exciting day! We met with the Sports RD to witness the fueling station in action. She quizzed us on when Vitamin C should be taken. We found out that it is best paired during and after a work out. I loved being tested because it kept me on my toes and I really felt like I was learning useful information for a future job! We made sports performance shakes for the football and basketball teams. They were specific for weight maintenance, weight gain, and weight loss. These shakes have special ingredients that help athletes preform and recover better. Cherry juice and protein powder along with various fruits make a great shake! We made our way to Breslin where the Michigan State Men's and Women's Basketball teams play. We were able to walk into their lounge and locker rooms. I liked the women's hot tub and TV setup. The Sports RD was saying how talking to the women worked best when they were relaxing in the hot tub. Face to face interaction is key! Touring the volleyball, gymnastics, and baseball facilities was also amazing. Since I am heading in the sports direction, I enjoyed this the best and didn't want to leave! 

Breslin Basketball Court

After our fabulous tour, we headed back to Akers to serve another full day of the 4H conference. This time, we were serving burgers and hot dogs. Surprisingly, we did not serve as many as we had hoped. I think there was competition between the yummy buffalo chicken tenders that I put on my salad. We attended another menu meeting and cleaned the dining room. 

Friday, June 24

Today was the last day of the 4H conference and man were we busy. My station had the burgers and hot dogs again but we added "onion petals" which are basically onion rings. I just about served a million burgers, just kidding. It was such a change from the day before. I am still wondering if more people showed up or our station was the most popular option. People went crazy for the onion petals so I decided to try them myself. Our boss's coworker came by more than once to "quality test" the onion rings; he was a funny guy. That shift flew by since I was constantly seasoning and panning burgers; I loved the demand. 

 

Thanks for reading this week at MSU! Stay tuned for the last half of our summer!