Dream World
It’s time for the industry to wake up to reality and fully support Hispanic workers through education and advancement.
Patricia B. Dailey, Publisher, Editorial Director -- Restaurants & Institutions, November 1, 2008
The screened kitchen door of a Thai restaurant in suburban Chicago gave glimpse to the inner workings of a place that’s reliably good for its renditions of pad si ew and tom ka kai. Between lunch and dinner, the prep crew sat on upended plastic buckets, paring carrots and peeling onions. A radio lent background noise, but rather than Asian-inflected as might be expected, the music was distinctly Hispanic. So were the workers.
This vignette, hardly unique across the industry’s broad spectrum, speaks volumes about how deeply ingrained, integral and important Hispanic employees are to foodservice. Whether working as pot scrubbers, shift managers, line cooks or in rare cases as chief executives, they are inarguably essential, their presence contributing skills, dedication and willing attitudes to jobs as menial as dishwasher and as refined as the sous chef of a four-star restaurant. Yet despite all that they do and make possible, opportunities to advance remain less structured and less likely than those for the Anglo majority.
Necessity has forced some positive movement, but is it enough for the industry to support Hispanic workers passively rather than proactively, offering training only as their functions dictate and advancement only when no one else is there to fill the job? Surely not, but little has been done to establish more-formalized programs to educate, mentor and advance Hispanic workers.
The Culinary Institute of America’s (CIA) campus in San Antonio, Texas, is a timely and much-needed step in a forward direction. Springing from a well-placed vision to promote Latino diversity in the U.S. foodservice industry, the CIA’s newest facility is rising up like a polished gem from the rubble of urban neglect. Temporarily squeezed in to a small facility already in place, the campus will expand exponentially—in size, scope and possibilities—when its new classroom building is completed several years hence, giving a vitally important sector of the industry’s workforce access and opportunity to pursue professional education.
CIA President Dr. Tim Ryan refers to the San Antonio program as “El Sueño”—the dream. Speaking recently at the Texas campus, Ryan said, “From this small place, we might spark a movement that can transform our industry. We will elevate Latin American cuisines and play a part in training aspiring chefs, especially Latinos, with the best culinary education.”
Perhaps it’s an audacious dream. But for foodservice to continue on a course of excellence, strength and growth, that dream must be attainable and actively supported by the full industry. With the CIA’s commitment to its San Antonio campus, the mission has begun in earnest. Now it’s time for others in the industry to wake up to the reality and the need: to fully support Hispanic workers through education and advancement.
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