by Tyler Ringer correspondent
Unless you work in Food Service, chances are pretty good that you have only a basic understanding of the kitchens at Moody. Eating in the SDR or the Commons may give you a glimpse of the faces of Food Service — you might see the dining room workers serving your meal or refilling containers of food, or perhaps the Commons workers grilling up your favorite burger after a night at PCM. What you might not know is the work and care that goes on behind the scenes.
Food Service comprises nine crews: catering, Joe’s workers, Commons workers, store room, dining room workers, kitchen workers, cook’s helpers and the office. These crews work together to prepare food for the student body, faculty and staff of Moody. All nine of these crews are composed completely of Moody students.
Above these workers are the full-time staff. Marty Rios, the SDR’s dinner cook, said, “[We all have] the common goal of feeding the masses.”
Joseph Lee, a cook for the Commons who also prepares many of the SDR’s vegetarian and gluten free options, said, “We do the best we can with the budget we have.”
Behind the uniforms are real
people who care about those they are serving. Josephina Rodriquez-Garcia, a full-time baker for seven years, said she loves seeing the faces of the students as they eat the desserts she has baked. “Everything we do, we do out of love to try to make the students feel loved and at home,” she said.
Food Service is constantly trying to improve the quality of the food that goes out, even if that means adding hours of work to prepare certain foods from scratch. This includes the plethora of salsas and guacamole for Taco Tuesday and the mass number of desserts baked every week.
This is not to say that those in the kitchen bemoan their jobs. Rebecca Williamson started her Moody career working in Catering when she was a student and now works full-time. Even though she admits that the kitchen can be loud at times (in part due to the singing of the crews) she said that her work never feels like a job and that she loves the people she works with.
For many of the student workers, Food Service is more than a job: it’s a community. “I like the crew,” said Pavel Adamek, freshman world missions and evangelism major. “I don’t have to worry about school, but I can just work with a crew of really cool guys.” Emily Mast, junior education major, says she finds joy in serving students. Alex Stoll, senior music major and a cook’s helper, would like to tell people of the care that goes into their food, and ask for grace and patience when the food does not meet expectations.
So next time you go to eat your meal or meal replacement, Food Service wishes that your experience would be like their goal, posted on their web page: “Motivate the MBI community to serve Christ by exceeding expectations with fresh, wholesome meals while displaying Christ-like service and attitude as we follow through in our responsibilities.”