Southern California Inland Empire Chefs & Cooks Association, a chapter of the American Culinary Federation (ACF), the largest professional organization for cooks and chefs in the nation, is announcing the start of a Cooks Apprenticeship Program. The program is a two year commitment (4,000 hours) in a professional foodservice establishment coupled with related course subjects taught in a classroom setting. The apprentice will be a full-time paid employee.
The purpose of the Apprenticeship Program is to further the education and training of men and women for careers in culinary arts, food preparation and related industries.
The Southern California Inland Empire Chefs and Cooks Association apprenticeship training program, approved by the US Department of Labor/Office of Apprenticeship, has been designed to provide future culinarians entering the workplace with comprehensive training in the practical and theoretical aspects of work required in a highly skilled profession.
The apprenticeship program is based on the voluntary cooperation between local chapters of the American Culinary Federation, industry and government, the individual hotel or foodservice establishment and local school and college systems. It is, therefore, a truly cooperative endeavor. The rich rewards of this cooperation are apprentices who learn skills on-the-job which will serve them to develop into committed and dedicated culinarians.
Apprenticeship is an old and time honored method of developing skills. In recent years apprenticeship has enjoyed a renewed popularity. It is now viewed as a high quality method to acquire skills while learning by doing and at the same time exploring the opportunities which exist within the culinary profession.
About Apprenticeship Training
Today, there are over 800 apprentice occupations in the construction, manufacturing, transportation, and service industries. Apprentices are members of a production force as they train on the job and in the classroom. They are paid wages and work a regular workweek. At the end of the apprenticeship period, they receive certificates that are similar to the diplomas awarded an engineering graduate of a university.
The Fitzgerald Act of 1937 set the pattern for today’s system of Federal Government administrative assistance to apprenticeship programs. The Federal Committee on Apprenticeship was reorganized and enlarged to include equal representation of employers and labor, plus a representative of the U. S. Office of Education. The Apprentice-Training Service (presently the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training) was established as the national administrative agency in the Department of Labor to carry out the objectives of the law, guided by the recommendations of the Federal Committee on Apprenticeship.
Since 1937, the federal Department of Labor Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training (BAT) has worked closely with employer and labor groups, vocational schools, state apprenticeship agencies, and others concerned with apprenticeship programs in U.S. industry. It has field representatives in 35 states that provide advice to programs and have registered 15 State Advisory Councils (SAC) who serve similar functions to the BAT. The BAT also promotes apprenticeship by disseminating information widely through newspapers, industrial periodicals, discussions at annual conventions of employer associations and unions, and regional apprenticeship conferences.
Within the kitchen, any chef will tell you that his or her ultimate employee is a person willing to learn. Apprentices entering a kitchen start at the beginning. The chef has the unique opportunity to develop a “mentoring” relationship with the apprentice and mold that person into a responsible, knowledgeable culinarian.
As an employer, the greatest benefit is a committed and loyal employee. Millions of dollars are spent each year on staff development using highly publicized management programs. Employers will tell you that an apprentice enhances the enthusiasm and positive attitudes of the entire staff. Apprenticeship offers a connection between industry and education. Educational institutions provide education and training that assists in meeting the needs of culinary industry. The standards of the training program were developed by chefs with a realistic view of a foodservice operation that includes competency based learning objectives designed for the classroom and laboratory setting.
Why Start an ACF Apprenticeship Program?
The success of the chef’s profession depends upon a source of trained professional culinarians. Cook and Pastry Cook Apprenticeship is designed to train future culinarians through practical experience reinforced with the study of theory.
The Apprenticeship program will give focus to a chapter. Apprenticeship brings everyone together to work on the betterment of the industry through training. The formation of an apprenticeship program will ensure the growth of the chapter’s membership. Graduate apprentices will become active members and continue the process of sharing information.
Chefs who take on the responsibility of supervising an apprentice will find that their own skill level will increase. The apprentice actually challenges the chef to recall and demonstrate culinary techniques due to the relationship between the chef and the apprentice. That mentoring relationship will result in the chef learning while teaching.
To work with a person for a minimum of three years, see that person graduate and embark on a culinary career is an experience one will never forget. To pass down what one has learned to an individual hungry for the knowledge is one of the most satisfying accomplishments in life.
For more information about the Southern California Inland Empire Chefs and Cooks Association apprenticeship training program
please e-mail Chef David Avalos, CCE, Apprenticeship Chair
Southern California Inland Empire Chefs & Cooks Association
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- Apprenticeship for Employers
- Apprenticeship Operation Manual
- Program Requirements
- National ACF Apprenticeship Program
