Mailbag

I always find it interesting to return to my office after a number of days on the road, especially as it pertains to my email inbox. Even though between my laptop and my Blackberry I have 24/7 access to my mail, there are always several pieces of mail that I save for later consumption because they don’t require immediate attention.

Most of these email concern story ideas or interesting takes on news of interest to our readers. One such email I received last week from the NRA Educational Foundation. The press release dealt with a partnership between The Ford Plantation, a luxury gated community and sports club in Savannah, Ga., and the foodservice team at Fort Stewart, which is located in Hinesville, Ga. Ford’s executive chef, Juan Carlos Rodriquez, is spending several days a week teaching cooks from Ft. Stewart scratch cooking skills. The idea, according to Rodriquez, is to show Army cooks how to incorporate more fresh ingredients into their cooking.

This goes against the basic set-up of military cooking, with its rigid menu cycles and bulk ordering of food ingredients. But the Army top brass is interested in changing that mindset, at least as far as food is concerned, and hopes to expand this pilot program to other bases around the country.

That got me thinking. Military foodservice is really a hybrid of college foodservice—most of the personnel in any branch of the services is college age and they do eat at least two meals a day on base, except when deployed—and B&I, given that all personnel, whether military or civilian, are employees. My recent conversations with Air Force and Navy foodservice personnel indicate that the military is trying to “steal” the best ideas from these two non-commercial segments.

So, as the Army considers expanding this partnership, who better to provide this kind of training than chefs in those two segments? They know volume cooking and they themselves are hard at work bringing more fresh and local ingredients to their kitchens. That’s a partnership that makes sense to me. Any readers out there who might be interested? Maybe we can help make it happen.