It's About Time: $35 Million to Advance Cause of Latino Restaurant Workers
Given the importance of Latino workers in restaurant kitchens all over the United States, Pace salsa billionaire Christopher Goldsbury's announcement that he is donating $35 million to the Culinary Institute of America "for a push to deepen the United States' relationship with food from Latin America and help restaurant workers move ahead in the kitchen" represents the first institutional recognition that the aforementioned Latino workers have ever received. It's about time.
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3 Comments:
so, how does $35 mil to whitey-fied CIA exactly help all the poor, underpaid mexican dishwashers and cooks in this country?
dmarina at 1:14PM on 05/18/07
Good question. We'll have to see how it all unfolds. Here's what the Times piece said:
"Mr. Goldsbury is giving $35 million to the Culinary Institute of America, a gift thought to be the largest single donation to culinary education. The school will use $7 million to expand its Center for Foods of the Americas in San Antonio and another $5 million to build a center dedicated to teaching Latin American cuisine at the institute’s main campus in Hyde Park, N.Y."
"The bulk of the donation, $23 million, will feed scholarships that will pay for students to attend the center’s 30-week program in San Antonio. The best of those students will be sent to the Culinary Institute’s main campus in New York to work toward a two- or four-year degree in a program specializing in foods from countries such as Mexico, Cuba, Argentina and Peru."
Ed Levine at 3:34PM on 05/18/07
No one's doing anything else, so I do applaud the idea, however, I think this is going in a totally wrong direction. I doubt that most immigrants working in the industry are eligible for these scholarships or can even make it through the strict requirements of getting into the CIA. Most of them can't even speak english. These people are here trying to make money to send to their families in other countries. It's nice that they could get an education paid for, but most can't afford to quit their jobs or move to Hyde Park and forfeit their income.
AND even if they did get in, they don't need to learn about food from their own countries. They need to specialize in French and classical technique. to get jobs in good restaurants, that will pay well. Even though, I still feel that being an immigrant & having brown skin will guarantee a lower wage, no matter what your background, then again, I am also the cynical chef that thinks old people shouldn't cook.
It seems we should spend that money on developing skills of the people that are already in the industry, providing health insurance, english classes to the people that are willing to take an hour or so out of their 18-hour work days, and it shouldn't be in San Antonio. It should be in New York City, Chicago or any of the hubs of the culinary world that make the most money off these hard-working immigrants.
dmarina at 6:16PM on 05/18/07