We were
tasked by the Regimental Operational Support Officer, Captain Mak Singh MBE, to
assist on Exercise Midlands Speer. This event
ran over four weeks by 143(West Midlands) Brigade to show what life is like
within the military. It is held in
conjunction with the Job Centre Plus, Job Enterprise Training and Stoke-on-Trent
College.
The Catering
Troop was tasked to feed 40 individuals at the end of March with a lunch, on
only a £1.50 a head budget. We also
provided a nutritional lecture to the assembled students and of course
emphasised that we do catering en-masse but also fine dining for Mess events
and other special occasions, giving Chefs a chance to show off their skills.
We arrived at
4 Mercian’s unit lines in Stoke on the Wednesday afternoon to give a brief to
the students on calorie intake and then they went off to get their own lunch. We then analysed their choices and gave them
feedback on how good or bad their choices were. For a bit of added pressure we had the team
from BBC 1(One Show) filming us too!
The lecture
went well and after they told me what they had eaten and drank that day and we
broke down their meals by nutritional values, showing how unhealthy/healthy it
was - most of the students had been going to McDonalds so you can guess the
results.
On the second
day, after setting up the kitchen, Staff Sergeant Morries, from 237 West Brom
Squadron, proceeded to make a healthy lunch for the students as I gave the
presentation on Nutrition.
We also took
a look at the Operational Ration Pack that we now use on operations around the
world and the nutritional value that it gives our troops. The lunch which was served consisted of pasta,
minced beef bolognaise, jacket potatoes, salad, vegetables, fruit and yoghurt. The students were utterly amazed at what we
have to work with on £1.50 for a lunch meal.
The feedback from
the students looking to join either the Armed Forces or Reserves is looking good.
Let’s hope these students materialise as
soldiers and officers, maybe even some Chefs, of the future!
If you're interested in gaining valuable qualifications as Chef and want to try something different then search online for Army Chef, or pop in to your nearest Army careers centre or Army Reserve centre, for more information.
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