Do you eat ethically? This video doesn’t think so
Behind the Kitchen Door: What Every Diner Should Know About the People Who Feed Us, a new book by Saru Jayaraman that hits shelves February 2013, knocks those smug, trying-to-eat-sustainably-and-do-good-for-the-world foodie-types off their high horses for failing to consider not just the environment their food is grown in, but also the restaurant environment they eat in. In the two-minute trailer, the hospitality industry looks pretty grim: workers face sexual harassment, are woefully underpaid (practically everyone on staff is making a measly $2.13 an hour), are forced to come in when they’re sick and have little chance for advancement. The book and video are American, so this onslaught of dining shame is slightly mitigated for Ontarians, where general restaurant workers receive minimum wage ($10.25) and workers who serve alcohol receive an hourly minimum of $8.90—not to mention the fact that pretty much everyone has free healthcare. At least there’s that.
Not sure about servers, but i know quite a few cooks in toronto who work well over 80 hours a week and are paid by the day, not hourly. They usually earn well under minimum wage.
Oh please. Don’t like the job, stop signing up for them. Stop whining that the World isn’t providing things for you. I don’t see many chefs spending hundreds of thousands of dollars starting businesses with risk. Nor do I see servers doing the same. Newsflash: starting a business takes money, and people won’t pay $50/hour to have someone bring you drinks from a bartender that opens a valve to pour a mediocre beer. You don’t like it? Go somewhere else. This has nothing to do with ethics. If these jobs are so bad, then everybody should stop going out, shop on their own, and cook their own food. Then the thousands of “employed people” that rarely claim their tips will be unemployed. Problem solved.
yes..you can walk away from these jobs..and you have a choice not to work when you are sick..the consequences are they don’t get paid..and that server making minimum wage in ontario…even if they are working in a low end restaurant is earning TIPS and the average is about $30 an hour..so not so bad..! you can earn up to 400 per weekend on an average of 15 hrs..so..yes it sucks to be a dishwasher and maybe even a line cook..but in life you choose! you can’t make every job 15 per hour..or your 1/4 chicken dinner is going to jump from 8.50 to 15…!
What is this new online culture that permits these kind of mean spirited remarks about the people who feed us in restaurants, and are often new immigrants? They pay rent, have families to feed, and work long hours on their feet…appreciate them, and their service.