Hello, it’s me again! If you read Homey’s blog often, then I think you will know that I was having my first internship at Homey before. Now, it was my second time to undertake internship at Homey.
Spending three weeks at here made my December 2021 even better as I gained the new experience in the food services area. Although the Covid-19 pandemic is still present, but I was able to spend my holiday to assist and support Homey’s clients on their healthy journey. Woohoo…I was very glad to take on the role as a nutritionist to help the public in their journey for a healthy lifestyle.
Let’s talk about the kind of food services I did throughout these three weeks. I was involved in meal plating which required me to arrange and decorate the clients’ meal according to their remarks. For instance, no raw food for cancer patient. I learned to be more decisive when I needed to think about the food substitution for certain food that the client couldn’t eat. This allowed me to apply my knowledge into practise by focusing on the nutrients in the meal so that the clients could obtain enough nutrients. By plating the meal, I could improve my teamwork spirit as I had to work with the chef. Working with the chef taught me how important it was to strike a balance between the chef and the nutritionist or dietitian. Why am I saying like that? This was due to the fact that nutritionist or dietitian were concerned about the meal portion, food substitution based on the remarks. However, sometimes we overlooked how difficult it was for the chef to prepare just a few dishes. As a result, it was very crucial to consider the chef’s perspective in order to reduce the workload as well as save the time. By doing so, both parties would be able to work well together and provide a healthy and delicious meal to the clients.
After sending out the meal, I began assigning the meal type for the next day’s order. By allocating the meal types to the clients, I was able to put my knowledge to work as I had to arrange the meal types based on the remarks so that the meal was suitable for the clients’ clinical condition. For example, some clients were unable to eat sour food, so I had to ensure that the meal I assigned did not contain any sour ingredients or food. I discussed with the chef on the food substitution and tried to match with his idea so that the time of preparation and cooking can be reduced.
Throughout these three weeks, I reminded myself that I had to manage my time effectively when plating the meal. This was due to clients receiving their meals late on occasion. Therefore, I always manage my time well to ensure that the delivery time was not delayed. Clients would be pleased if the meal was delivered on time. Everything was worth doing when we received the compliments from the clients. As a result, time management is very important in the food service industry.
In a nutshell, I am glad that I spent my holidays at Homey because I was doing something good for myself while helping others on their healthy journey. Despite the fact that three weeks does not seem like a long period, but I was able to get a new experience in the field of food services. This experience will definitely benefit me in the future. I felt blessed because this internship was a great opportunity for me to learn more and broaden my horizons.
Christmas dinner with my friendly colleagues
Written by,
Goh Shu Mei, Nutrition with Wellness student