Photo By Max Lonzanida | Yorktown, Va. (January 11, 2024) Culinary Specialist Second Class Estle Hawkins,...... read more read more
Story by Master-at-Arms First Class Simone Campbell
Naval Weapons Station Yorktown Security Department.
Yorktown, Va. (January 12, 2024) Naval Weapon Station Yorktown’s Scudder Hall Galley is scheduled to implement new meal time hours effective Tuesday, January 16th. The shift in mealtime hours is a direct result of reviewing feedback during their quarterly menu review boards and comment boxes, looking at past metrics regarding peak meal times and simply listening to the requests of the installation’s service members and civilians. The installation’s Food Service Officer, Chief Warrant Officer 3 David Burston provided some insights to the meal time shift.
“It boiled down to looking at what works with one of our larger tenant commands, the Marines across the street at the Marine Corps Security Force Regiment (MCSFR),” stated Burston during an interview conducted at the galley. At the time of the interview, the galley’s dedicated Culinary Specialists and contractors were busy preparing for lunchtime. “Their schedules were so compressed in the morning after PT and the need to be at morning colors on time. They have to be at morning colors by 0800 and that left them with very little time to sit down and eat,” he noted.
Comments received via their comment box in the galley, along with soliciting feedback regarding breakfast times from service members during their previous quarterly menu review boards also reflected the need for change. “Once you burn all those calories during an intense morning PT, you need to refuel. You can’t walk around on an empty stomach or simply try to wolf down a to-go tray. That is a recipe for a long and hungry day. So it all boils down to how we can meet their needs, and shifting the breakfast meal time was a win-win.”
In the end, after incorporating feedback from their dedicated team of Culinary Specialists and civilian contractors, installation leadership concurred with the recommendation to implement new breakfast times from 0630-0830 Monday through Friday and from 0800-0930 on the weekends.
Lunch and dinner hours are slated for changes as well, with lunch being from 1100-1300 and dinner being from 1600-1730 daily. Burston noted that this change allowed their dedicated team more time to prepare the mealtime options as opposed to being rushed to meet the demands of the hungry service members in the serving line. “Anytime you rush something, it enhances the margin of error. Implementing this shift in lunch and dinner hours alone will increase productivity and improve the quality of what we serve,” noted Burston. He also that this change decreases the chances of hot food simply sitting on the serving line; thereby decreasing food waste.
Lastly, feedback from their quarterly menu review board and incorporating feedback from the comment box over the past four months netted some easy fixes to what they offer. “They asked for more fruit, and not only that, more variety of fruit. They asked for additional meat offerings for our cooked to order omelets. So we looked in the NAVSUP catalog and we found what they were looking for, it was a simple fix and we got it delivered,” noted Burston.
“Additional feedback came up with portion control. I mean, if you are still hungry and your portion was small for whatever reason, by all meals jump back in line and they are welcome to get a second portion because we do understand that our Sailors and Marines get hungry, especially if we are serving something that is popular.” He noted that popular meals are always their chicken quesadillas, grilled salmon along with their burger and taco days which get eaten up quickly.
In sum, “because 95 percent of these change requests originated from the service members that we serve, I see the simple shift in meal time hours as a win-win. We adjusted our work flow to meet their needs; we listened to what they needed because in the end we are here for them. We want to be able to meet their needs and for me and the rest of our team here, I’m excited for these changes in our galley.”
| Date Taken: | 01.12.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 01.12.2024 14:57 |
| Story ID: | 461790 |
| Location: | YORKTOWN , VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 76 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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