Food and Hospitality Industry needs some change
I am going to put this here....
In another group I am in, a question came up and I wanted to share the question and my response. Would love to hear yours.
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I’m curious to know if anyone is currently putting a re-entry plan together for catering and events? How do you see food service changing? Thoughts on social distancing expectations while attending a dinner or gala? Eventually we will get to celebrate but I see some precautions needed as we begin to re-enter a new normal.
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We are social creatures. We will be hugging and dancing again. We will be sitting close, laughing, sharing drinks, food and conversation again. Eating and celebrating is an intimate act. Intimacy will return and we must lead the way.
· Implementations needed:
· Elevate handwashing, cleanliness, and sanitation in kitchens, events and venues – train this into culture
· Educate the public on elevated standards and ask them to support those that follow them
· Change illness protocols – encourage those hosting events to ask that anyone who is ill NOT attend | do not have workers work sick
· Offer alternatives for attendance – video conferencing, private feeds for those that can’t attend in person
· Create a consultancy that can help our industry with these changes – educate, implement, celebrate, repeat and ingrain in culture.
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A bit about me; Frontline healthcare worker x30 years, Navy Corpsman, trained in radiation disaster mass casualty, health administrator, consummate change agent that led radiology & neurosciences teams at all levels. MBA from CU Denver Business school.
I only list this to say I walk in multiple worlds, Allopathic medicine, Naturopathic medicine, Wellness, catering, meal service and events.
8 years ago, my wife started a holistic meal delivery service that I joined 5 years ago that our daughter, is also an owner and Holistic Chef at, The Custom Plate. Last year we launched Feast Pioneer Square, a small venue that has been an absolute joy be part of. We feed people with complex immunocompromised bodies. We feed people on chemo, radiation and heart disease protocols. We feed people with celiac disease and airborne corn and nut allergies. We are ONLY able to do this because of our cleaning, sanitation and food prep standards. These standards, for us, have existed since the beginning.
My friend Drew made a comment a few weeks back that was spot on: “you don’t want to pay grocery workers $15/hr and now your health is in their hands.” (couldn’t find the post so I may have a word or two off)
We must change standards in the food and event industry. Yesterday we went to a grocery store where we watched the deli meat worker, with gloves on, grab a box of meat, open it with the box cutter they pulled from their pocket, put it back in their pocket, open the meat, grab the meat and throw it on the slicer… “never mind, we don’t want the meat”. No hand washing, no basic understanding of how and why in this situation.
As a Navy Corpsman during the first gulf war I was trained in emergency triage and battlefield healthcare. We were taught about glove use, PPE, how to keep ourselves safe and secure in the face of very messy situations. A newly recruited corpsman in the Navy is lucky to make $15k a year. We can find a way to train and educate our valuable partners in the food industry.
As a society we have become a bit cavalier about working when sick. When we have a staff member work with a runny nose, fever, aches and pains we risk getting an entire wedding party sick. We are always on the look out for listeria as a food service and yet we don’t seem to insist on appropriate handwashing, personal hygiene and cleanliness in the kitchen.
More about me here if it helps...
https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/deanhobsonmba
We are all connected....