# Do cooks get free food?!



## Fokur (30 Sep 2010)

Sorry about the random dumb question but I was just wondering if thats their perk of being a cook. That would definitely save a lot of money if your stuck paying Q and R.


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## gaspasser (30 Sep 2010)

Nope, from what I hear here at the Yukon, cooks actually pay a monthly amount to eat in the kitchen...so, how do they taste test the food???~~~


 :


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## Fokur (30 Sep 2010)

I have a friend in the infantry that knows a few cooks and they claim that they eat for free! I didn't if that was something that was allowed or just something that was an unspoken rule... Cause that would be a pretty sick deal if you didnt have to pay for rations LOL


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## dogger1936 (30 Sep 2010)

BYT Driver said:
			
		

> Nope, from what I hear here at the Yukon, cooks actually pay a monthly amount to eat in the kitchen...so, how do they taste test the food???~~~
> 
> 
> :



Nope? Wouldnt that be like saying quartermasers pay for bugspray and AA batteries? :nod:


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## armyvern (30 Sep 2010)

dogger1936 said:
			
		

> Nope? Wouldnt that be like saying quartermasers pay for bugspray and AA batteries? :nod:



I do pay; for every single mbr ... they draw it from the QM Whse or their SQ. Both are utilized for work purposes (field trg happens in the woods, our penlights take batteries [AA]). Just gimme your fin code.

 :blotto:


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## Sub_Guy (30 Sep 2010)

The cooks I know pay for their food.  Personally I think they should get the meal for free, just a perk of the job. There is always food left over, so it's not like they would be taking from the troops. I should be clearer, they should eat for free while on shift, unless they are on R&Q.


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## armyvern (30 Sep 2010)

Dolphin_Hunter said:
			
		

> The cooks I know pay for their food.  Personally I think they should get the meal for free, just a perk of the job. There is always food left over, so it's not like they would be taking from the troops. I should be clearer, they should eat for free while on shift, unless they are on R&Q.



My cooks don't get free food/eat for free at work in garrison; unless I have them over working at the base kitchens vice in the Regt - where they _may_ (I don't know if they are or if they aren't) be fed if they are on shift ... I'll have to ask one of them tomorrow.

Just like everyone, when we are in the field (like they would be in an Infantry Bn), the cooks do eat for free while on Ex ... just like every other single svc mbr out there with them.  ;D


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## PuckChaser (30 Sep 2010)

If cooks were to get free food, do truckers get free cars? Infanteers free guns?   >


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## armyvern (30 Sep 2010)

PuckChaser said:
			
		

> If cooks were to get free food, do truckers get free cars? Infanteers free guns?   >



Glad that I'm a suppie ...

I have food, trucks, trailors, generators, bug spray, batteries, multiple budgets, toilet paper, guns ... AND

ammo.

 ;D


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## George Wallace (30 Sep 2010)

Fokur said:
			
		

> I have a friend in the infantry that knows a few cooks and they claim that they eat for free! I didn't if that was something that was allowed or just something that was an unspoken rule... Cause that would be a pretty sick deal if you didnt have to pay for rations LOL



Did he mention that they also breath oxygen for free as well.  I will also add that they also drink for free.  They do have to pay to use the toilets though.

This is starting to sound like "The Dumbest Thing I heard today."


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## Kat Stevens (30 Sep 2010)

Cooks get free food.  In fact, what attracted me most to Combat Engineer was the free C4 and det cord.


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## PuckChaser (30 Sep 2010)

Kat Stevens said:
			
		

> Cooks get free food.  In fact, what attracted me most to Combat Engineer was the free C4 and det cord.



And as a friend of mine found out.... not good to put in your mouth. Fun to use though!


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## lethalLemon (30 Sep 2010)

PuckChaser said:
			
		

> And as a friend of mine found out.... not good to put in your mouth. Fun to use though!



:rofl:


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## Fishbone Jones (30 Sep 2010)

:nod:


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## EME-Glen (5 Apr 2012)

That is a good question, but have you had their cooking?
 :-X


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## Journeyman (5 Apr 2012)

EME-Glen said:
			
		

> That is a good question, but have you had their cooking?
> :-X


Well, that post was certainly worth waiting almost 2 years for.   :


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## PMedMoe (5 Apr 2012)

Journeyman said:
			
		

> Well, that post was certainly worth waiting almost 2 years for.   :



Not to mention, the OP not being active since Oct 2010.


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## matthew1786 (5 Apr 2012)

I spent a good 4 years working in a kitchen. We weren't given free food but we had discounts on every single purchase. Also, we sometimes were allowed to eat the leftover food if the dietary technician said that it would have to go to waste. But if that was the case, we had to wait for our shift to be over! I can't imagine things being much different in other kitchens.

Personally, I absolutely *hate it* when good meat is wasted; makes me feel so angry!  It happened once where I ordered a steak at a restaurant and the waitress served it well done when I asked for rare. When I brought it to her attention she offered to bring it back and serve me a new one to my liking. I asked her what would happen to this one and she told me that it would be wasted.  :-\ I then proceeded to eat... and finish, that ever so dry steak.  :-X


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## Pusser (5 Apr 2012)

matthew1786 said:
			
		

> Personally, I absolutely *hate it* when good meat is wasted; makes me feel so angry!  It happened once where I ordered a steak at a restaurant and the waitress served it well done when I asked for rare. When I brought it to her attention she offered to bring it back and serve me a new one to my liking. I asked her what would happen to this one and she told me that it would be wasted.  :-\ I then proceeded to eat... and finish, that ever so dry steak.  :-X



Well that was completely foolish, unless they gave you the meal for free and even then.  If it's not up to standard, then make the restaurant pay for their mistake.

As for the original question, unless things have changed yet again, CF cooks in static (i.e. on base) kitchens do get "free" meals when they are on shift.  However, as a result of complaints over the years, this is now considered a taxable benefit.  In other words, their "free" meals are taxed as if they were pay.

Cooks in operational situations (e.g. field kitchens, ships, deployed ops) eat for free, just like everybody else.

Taste testing is part of a cook's job.  He/she does not have to pay for that.


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## Cui (5 Apr 2012)

A bit of a derail here, but how do the meal cards system work in the CF? 

It's just like a debit card, you load money into it once in a while, like the ones university students have. Or does it keep track of your purchases and takes it derectly out of your pay?

I've never seen a CF personnel pay cash in mess halls, it's always been cards. I just wondered how those things work. 

As well do you just get issued one meal card, or do you get a new one for every new base you get posted to?

Thanks


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## fraserdw (5 Apr 2012)

ArmyVern said:
			
		

> Glad that I'm a suppie ...
> 
> I have food, trucks, trailors, generators, bug spray, batteries, multiple budgets, toilet paper, guns ... AND
> 
> ...



Yeah, yeah, well, well........... I got SWATs!!!!!


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## REDinstaller (5 Apr 2012)

Meh...I have the mythical roll of shore line, along with a 105mm BFA.


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## Eye In The Sky (5 Apr 2012)

A close friend of mine (who is married to a military cook) told me just last week the the kitchen staff were very recently told in an O Gp/briefing that they were losing the 'discount' on their meals.


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## q_1966 (5 Apr 2012)

On base, taxes are paid on rations eaten during your work shift (two meals whether its early shift/straight shift or late shift. Full amount paid for meals not during your shift (if paying rations).


			
				Cui said:
			
		

> A bit of a derail here, but how do the meal cards system work in the CF?
> 
> It's just like a debit card, you load money into it once in a while, like the ones university students have. Or does it keep track of your purchases and takes it derectly out of your pay?
> 
> ...



The individual reloadable cards you can put money on are sadly not on every base, wish they were.

Other cards are issued to those paying rations.

Sometimes there will be one card used for a whole course with a list of names to check off, I'm sure someone could elaborate.


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## NSDreamer (5 Apr 2012)

Get Nautical said:
			
		

> Sometimes there will be one card used for a whole course with a list of names to check off, I'm sure someone could elaborate.



 Heh on our brigade exercises, there is one card that pays for the entire brigade group.

 /end derailment


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## armyvern (6 Apr 2012)

fraserdw said:
			
		

> Yeah, yeah, well, well........... I got SWATs!!!!!



Well, if it's any consolation , I did dine at Fort Frontenac for lunch last week ... and it cost me.  8)

The upcoming Ex in Pet will not charge me for food however.  :-X


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## Jarnhamar (8 Apr 2012)

I'm still blown away at the prices of food in Canadian kitchens compared to the US.

Cooks have a pretty thankless job. Luckily for them they never go hungry and don't work in the rain  :nod:


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## Fishbone Jones (8 Apr 2012)

ObedientiaZelum said:
			
		

> I'm still blown away at the prices of food in Canadian kitchens compared to the US.
> 
> Cooks have a pretty thankless job. Luckily for them they never go hungry and don't work in the rain   :nod:



Never eaten from a flying kitchen? When it rains on us, it's raining on them, but the food is still always hot, plentiful and tasty.


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## Jarnhamar (15 Apr 2012)

recceguy said:
			
		

> Never eaten from a flying kitchen? When it rains on us, it's raining on them, but the food is still always hot, plentiful and tasty.



They're still under the cover of the flying kitchen, and if a little rain does sneak through their still warm with lots of food around  ;D


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## Fishbone Jones (15 Apr 2012)

ObedientiaZelum said:
			
		

> They're still under the cover of the flying kitchen, and if a little rain does sneak through their still warm with lots of food around  ;D



Not every part of the meal is prepared up in back :nod:


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