Summer 2009
Happy summer! Much has happened since I last wrote to you.
I am overjoyed to tell you: FOOD JOBS: 150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers has been awarded the 2008 Best Book in the World for Food Professionals by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards committee. It was selected from more than 6,000 submitted titles in 40 languages from 107 countries.
FOOD JOBS was singled out for offering uniquely practical and vital insights and answers to entering one of the few industries that is growing in the U.S. and around the world.
According to Edouard Cointreau, founder and president of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards,
“In these difficult times, jobs are probably the most important issue, before banks or real estate. FOOD JOBS is packed with practical information, easy and even funny, very serious and accurate in its comments and advice. It is difficult to imagine how it could be better.”
(Learn more about the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards here)
I have been asked what I think the five areas of food jobs growth are. While I write in more detail on my blog, I think they will be found in:
- Health Sector: as the nation focuses on health care there will continue to be increasing emphasis on food that is good to eat and good for the health of the nation. We will place greater emphasis on locally grown, minimally processed foods. Job opportunities are expanding for those who are preparing food for immediate consumption first in “farm to table” restaurants and indeed in all food service areas who adopt this philosophy.
- Food Products Research & Development (And the related promotion & marketing): All the major food companies, from fast food restaurants to beef, pork and chicken producers, even small business entrepreneurs, are changing the ways food is produced, packaged and sold.
- Personal Chef: As the nation becomes increasingly cooking illiterate, there are more opportunities for personal chefs. Just as we have stopped cleaning our own clothes, cutting our own hair, growing our own food, we are increasingly relying on others to provide us with ready to eat food.
- Government Jobs: While the food industry is the second largest employer after the federal government, work can even be found within the many government agencies. Just think of the fields of food safety and inspection, nutrition, military chefs, science and technology, even lobbying on behalf of The National Restaurant Association, etc.
- Teaching at Culinary Arts Schools & Universities: There has been an explosive growth in the number of professional culinary schools throughout the nation. This means that former accountants and financial analysts, lawyers, public relations specialists and web site designers, chefs and countless others can transfer their skills into food-themed teaching opportunities.
Since the last newsletter:
I’m tweeting: You can find me at foodjobsbook. I rack my brain every morning to pass along a thought or new career idea there. I’ve recently come up with the following:
- The HEB supermarkets in Texas places kiosks located close to the meat, poultry and fish counter. A good cook is hired to demonstrate a new dish every day (and not by chance, all the ingredients for making the dish at home are prepped and ready to go)!
- A young Japanese friend, who lost her job, decides to teach Japanese cooking at her local cooking school.
- Instead of hot dogs, innovative cart owners can sell rice pudding, crème brulée, dumplings, cup cakes or iced chocolate drinks. (There are a number of permits to be obtained so this may not be as much fun as it might seem, especially when it rains on the parade.)
- An entrepreneur opens a restaurant serving only soufflés, hot and cold, savory and sweet. Other restaurants serving only one food, but with many variations include one that sells only rice pudding and another that offers only (great) French fries with several choices of dips.
- A crossword expert finds happiness as a cookbook indexer. Using her organization skills, she could also find work as a registrar in a culinary school. Planning time and space for dozens of classes is a puzzle indeed.
- A baker opens a specialty sandwich shop near a large office building. The smell of freshly baked bread brings customers running. (The magic number for pricing sandwiches is regularly $5.00. The mark-up on handmade sandwiches filled with farmers’ market ingredients can be much higher.)
- A dietician teams up with a surgeon specializing in gastric bypass surgery. She provides dietary guidance and counseling for maintaining weight loss.
- A book lover decides to change careers and become a culinary librarian.
- A word lover writes a proposal tracing the origins of cooking terms, for example: tongue in cheek, peanut gallery, cool as a cucumber.
- A bee keeper takes his bees in a glass-enclosed comb to the farmer’s market. The busy bees attract a crowd that is sweet enough to buy his honey.
- Be like David Bacco and pair unexpectedly tasty ingredients for a new flavor experience. David pairs his chocolates with beer, e.g. Bell’s Porter with Cashew Caramel (Roasted Cashews Dipped in Caramel and Seasoned with Fleur de Sel), Bell’s Pale Ale with Gingered Macadamia Nut.
- A researcher/writer develops a clientele of foodies for whom she is creating Wikipedia profiles and web sites.
I’m exploring ways to make the curriculum I’ve developed for my upcoming FOOD JOBS course available to others long distance. I’ve developed a detailed Course Guide for FOOD JOBS, and know other culinary schools are already using my materials for their Career Development Workshops. If you have suggestions, or are interested in learning more, please contact me at irena@foodjobsbook.com. I’m all ears.)
I’m still teaching at the Culinary Institute of America. While my Gastronomy and Food Writing courses keep me busy, I’m planning for my Food Jobs classes. David Leite, (of Leite’s Culinaria http://www.leitesculinaria.com/) website has invited me to host a teleforum course on Food Jobs in the fall. I recently conducted my first food careers teleforum for the International Association of Culinary Professionals, which can be found on the IACP website. I am delighted to offer a similar hour-long teleforum for culinary schools and community colleges.
I continue to mentor students at “the Culinary” and others who ask for help as I tell of some findings on my blog and in Chef Magazine. For instance, I’ve learned that admissions offices at culinary schools are providing prospective new students with the FOOD JOBS book. (If that’s of interest to your organization, please contact: Erin Smith at Beaufort Books. erin@beaufortbooks.com or (212) 727-2450.)
I’ve been invited to give FOOD JOBS talks at:
- ICE Institute of Culinary Education (New York, New York)
- Murray’s (fabulous) Cheese Shop (New York, New York)
- Women’s Culinary Alliance
- Cornell University (Ithaca, New York)
I do enjoy these engagements as it is a wonderful way to learn what others are thinking about. Please check the FOOD JOBS website for exact dates and times as it would be lovely to see you.
I’m eager to hear from you particularly if you can tell me about interesting and unusual food jobs!
Cordially,
