Serving more than 4,000 students daily, Panther Dining is its own working machine.

Each dining center has its own set of cooks and kitchen staffs to prepare the food students eat everyday.

Steve Underwood, salad cook from Taylor Dining, said there are no head cooks; everyone is equal. Each kitchen has a meat, vegetable and salad cook, as well as a baker.

Underwood has spent 11 years in the food service industry.

Before arriving at Taylor he was a supervisor in the food court.

He spent a year in an apprenticeship program at Opryland Hotel Culinary School in Nashville.

“The more experience you have, the better chance you get the job,” he said.

With such experience, he was brought to Taylor and now preps for the salad line. After coming to Taylor, he is happy with his position.

The people in the kitchen make it “a fun place to work.”

Food served in the dining centers is not always prepared.

“Some is prepared, some is made,” said Kayla Grissom, a sandwich cook at Thomas Dining Center.

The rest of the food that is not bought ready-to-use needs to be made.

“Each unit has a recipe book that we use for all menu items that we make from scratch,” said Brian Schneider, assistant director of the Carman Dining Center. “This is to help with menu/food cost as well as to ensure that all items are made the same no matter what cook is making it on a given day.”

Training is offered often to all cooks.

“We try and do training every year for all of our staff,” said Jody Horn, director of Panther Dining. “Certain training topics vary every year. It depends on what staff asks for or what is current and available at the time.”

Changes in menus are common in the dining centers.

If there are items that people would change in the dining centers, cooks, workers and students alike can give their opinions.

“We work together and look at new trends,” said Sheila Poffinbarger, assistant director of the Taylor Dining Center.

Panther Dining receives ideas from vendors, food shows, other schools, and restaurants. Sometimes cooks even try new things in small batches, to see if they would work out in the dining center.

Students are then asked for feedback.

“We see what they think,” Horn said. “They are the ones who are going to eat it.”

Panther Dining also works with special diets.

“We’ll try to work with anyone who has special dietary needs as much as possible,” Proffinbarger said.