Way back, when I was just a wee pup, I’d sit on the kitchen stool and watch my Mom cook. Now, I was a “latch-key” kid, so it wasn’t uncommon for me to fix my own breakfast before school, and then have to wait for Mom to come home to prepare dinner.
Even though I am an only child, I come from a large family (counting aunts, uncles, cousins) of food service professionals, and an even larger family of farmers/gardeners. They were sure to include me in all aspects of getting food from the farm to the table, often by way of the pantry (home canning and freezing).
In short, the love of food is part of my way of life.
As I grew up, I first worked in the kitchen at Pacific University as a student. That helped offset some of my education debt as I earned a degree in Music Education.
Prior to graduation, I joined the USMC and received my commission upon obtaining my BMEd.
After Basic School, I became a Food Service Officer, which caused my Mom to exclaim… “What do you know about food service besides when it’s time to eat and whether or not the food is any good!”
Well, those two things are pretty much the basis. Things left to learn included sanitation, costing, marketing, employee relations… well, you get the picture.
While in the USMC, I managed food service operations at MCAS (H) New River, the BOQ/Officer’s Mess (Closed) at New River, Depot Food Services at MCRD Parris Island, and the Officer’s Mess at Parris Island.
As a civilian, I worked for a number of different operations, ranging from Morrison’s Cafeteria (industrial division), some private Country Clubs in NC, and finally McDonald’s, where I was a “turn around specialist”.
Returning to my roots in Oregon, I left restaurant management spending nearly seven years in the electronics industry. But, the lure of the food industry was still there, and I began looking for ways to get back into the industry.
I began raising rabbits with an eye towards someday owning a processing plant of my own. That dream came to fruition in 1989 after I was handed a failing processing plant. Actually, the folks who owned it were wanting to move on and I was already working for them.
Within three short years, we went from total obscurity to international business, building a USDA-inspected plant, and employing up to 25 employees. Along the way, we hosted scientists from all over the world, trained professionals from Indonesia, and became suppliers to the best restaurants across the USA, Canada, and even shipped product internationally to South Korea, Tazmania and Germany.
We were the primary rabbit meat suppliers to many of the culinary teams from the USA (including Team USA) who competed at the Culinary Olympics in Frankfort Germany in 1992. Disneyworld, the sponsor of Team USA gave us “press passes” to the entire event. You can bet we were there!
In 1996 I retired from the rabbit business, and simply played golf for the next six months.
After volunteering for a local “group home agency” for 17 years, I accepted a position where I would once again be involved with food, preparing special diets for severely disabled adults.
In late 2005, friends of mine inquired as to whether I’d be up to one more shot in the food service industry. They believed the local Senior Center Food Service contract would soon come open for bids. Would I be interested in assisting them?
Here it is, 2008 and for the past year, I’ve quietly been putting together a business plan to operate the food service program for the Senior Center. We don’t have the contract yet, as it has not come open, but it’s only a matter of time.
I will be sharing many of the things I’ve learned along the way through this blog. Believe me, it’s been a very stimulating and interesting journey.
