Kitchen Cook

Kitchen Cook Job Description

Martin Luther King Youth Center Inc.

Reports to

Executive Director

Organization

Martin Luther King Youth Center Inc.

Position Summary

The Kitchen Cook plans, prepares, portions, and serves nutritious meals and snacks for MLKYC participants. The position maintains a sanitary and organized food-service operation; follows Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) requirements and New Jersey Manual 52; and maintains complete, accurate food-service records.

Key Responsibilities

· Plan menus and prepare meals and snacks that meet current CACFP meal-pattern requirements, including required food components, age-appropriate portion sizes, and nutritional standards.

· Prepare and serve food on schedule using safe food-handling practices and sanitary preparation, storage, service, and cleanup procedures.

· Maintain accurate daily meal and snack counts, production records, menus, invoices, receipts, inventory records, delivery records, temperature logs, and other documentation required by MLKYC, CACFP, and monitoring agencies.

· Coordinate with program staff so meal counts are recorded accurately at the point of service and correspond with attendance and enrollment records.

· Purchase or request food, beverages, paper products, cleaning supplies, and kitchen equipment within the approved budget and established procurement procedures.

· Receive deliveries; check food quality, quantities, expiration dates, temperatures, and condition; rotate stock using first-in, first-out practices; and promptly report shortages or damaged items.

· Maintain required refrigerator, freezer, holding, cooking, cooling, and reheating temperatures and document corrective action when a temperature is outside the approved range.

· Keep the kitchen, food-preparation areas, appliances, utensils, dishes, storage areas, and equipment clean, sanitized, orderly, and protected from contamination and pests.

· Prevent cross-contamination and follow approved practices for handwashing, glove use, cleaning and sanitizing, allergen awareness, and separation of raw and ready-to-eat foods.

· Follow written special-diet, allergy, medical, religious, and parent-requested meal instructions approved by MLKYC; provide allowable substitutions and maintain supporting documentation when required.

· Maintain sufficient backup food for a child who is hungry or has missed a meal and ensure drinking water is available to children.

· Communicate menu changes, food shortages, allergy concerns, repetitive feeding concerns, equipment failures, sanitation problems, and other food-service issues promptly to the Executive Director.

· Participate in required CACFP, food-safety, child-care, civil-rights, and MLKYC training and cooperate with monitoring visits, audits, licensing inspections, and corrective-action requirements.

· Follow MLKYC personnel policies and perform other reasonable food-service duties assigned by the Executive Director.

CACFP and Manual 52 Compliance

· Follow CACFP meal patterns and current USDA and New Jersey Department of Agriculture guidance for creditable foods, menu documentation, portion sizes, meal service, substitutions, and required records. 7 C.F.R. § 226.20.

· Ensure food is stored, prepared, and served in a sanitary manner and that meals and snacks meet minimum CACFP standards for nutritional value and portion size. N.J.A.C. 3A:52-6.3(a).

· Provide a snack to children in care for at least three consecutive hours and to children served on an after-school basis; make drinking water available; and maintain backup food for a child who is hungry or has missed a meal. N.J.A.C. 3A:52-6.3(a).

· Follow individualized written diets and feeding schedules supplied by a parent or health care provider and coordinate approved alternatives for special diets. N.J.A.C. 3A:52-6.3(a).

· Do not force or coerce a child to eat. Discard, label, refrigerate, return, or otherwise handle uneaten and unused food as required by Manual 52. N.J.A.C. 3A:52-6.3(a).

· Keep cooking equipment and kitchen facilities clean, sanitary, and operated in accordance with applicable health and sanitary requirements. N.J.A.C. 3A:52-5.3(g).

Qualifications and Skills

· High school diploma, GED, or equivalent is preferred.

· Experience preparing meals for groups in a child-care, school, community, institutional, or comparable food-service setting is preferred.

· Food-handler or food-protection certification required when mandated by the applicable health authority or MLKYC policy.

· Working knowledge of CACFP meal patterns, age-appropriate portions, production records, meal counts, special diets, food allergies, sanitation, and safe food temperatures.

· Ability to read recipes and labels; calculate portions; maintain accurate records; manage inventory; follow a budget; and communicate effectively with staff, families, vendors, and monitors.

· Ability to perform the physical activities ordinarily associated with commercial food preparation and kitchen sanitation, with reasonable accommodation when required.

· Satisfactory completion of all background checks, health documentation, orientation, and annual training required for MLKYC child-care staff under Manual 52.

Accountability

· The Executive Director evaluates the Kitchen Cook after the established introductory period and at least annually thereafter.

· Continued employment requires compliance with MLKYC policies, CACFP requirements, Manual 52, applicable health and sanitary requirements, and all required training and recordkeeping obligations.

Pay: $16.50 per hour

Expected hours: 25.0 per week

Work Location: In person