Food is the rage these days. Wolfgang Puck and Emeril LaGasse are as well known now, as are politicians and performing artists. Why even local chefs are becoming celebrities.

Just look at the media explosion over food. For instance there is the Food Network on television offering 7/24 programming on food, cooking, serving, contests and celebrity chefs. The Food Network wasn't there ten years ago. The morning talks shows on TV, network and local, as well as the noontime news hours often have a food feature, dining and restaurant reviews or chef on camera preparing a sumptuous dish. The increased interest in food is obvious in other medias as well, daily and weekly newspapers all feature food related stores and many feature local chefs and their cuisine. Several new publications, some monthly, others just special food editions, are ubiquitous at the checkout counters.

Culinary artists, otherwise known as chefs, is among the list of fast growing, high paying occupations, because food service is one of the nation's fastest growing industries. The Bureau of Labor Statistics

(BLS) says in their handbook: "Almost 60 percent of all chefs, cooks, and food preparation workers were employed in restaurants and other retail eating and drinking places. About 20 percent worked in institutions such as schools, universities, hospitals, and nursing homes. Grocery stores, hotels, and other organizations employed the remainder."

The dramatic increased interest in food, and more specifically, dining out had put the culinary artist at the center of attention and there aren't enough good ones to go around. Getting a culinary arts degree, especially if you like to cook and enjoy working around food, make good sense.

Not all food service jobs require a degree or extensive training, the better paying ones however, do require a culinary arts degree. This is especially true if you have your sights on an executive chef's position somewhere or even establishing your own restaurant.

According to the BLS; "Chefs, cooks and food preparation workers held more than 2.8 million jobs in 2000. Of those chefs and head cooks held about 139,000 jobs. Other restaurant kitchen jobs, from soup chef and salad chefs to the cooks, totaled 668,000.

The distribution of jobs among the various other types of cooks, and food preparation workers was as follows:

Food preparation workers 844,000
Cooks, fast food 522,000
Cooks, institution and cafeteria 465,000
Cooks, short order 205,000
Cooks, private household 5,200

Training for the top chef jobs involves more than just learning how to prepare and present a plate of food to die for. According to the BLS, top chefs have many responsibilities:

"A reputation for serving good food is essential to the success of any restaurant or hotel, whether it offers exotic cuisine or hamburgers. Chefs, cooks, and food preparation workers are largely responsible for establishing and maintaining this reputation. Chefs and cooks do this by preparing meals, while other food preparation workers assist them by cleaning surfaces, peeling vegetables, and performing other duties.

In general, chefs and cooks measure, mix, and cook ingredients according to recipes. In the course of their work they use a variety of pots, pans, cutlery, and other equipment, including ovens, broilers, grills, slicers, grinders, and blenders. Chefs and head cooks often are responsible for directing the work of other kitchen workers, estimating food requirements, and ordering food supplies. Some chefs and head cooks also help plan meals and develop menus.

Large eating places tend to have varied menus and kitchen staffs often include several chefs and cooks, sometimes called assistant or apprentice chefs and cooks, along with other less skilled kitchen workers. Each chef or cook usually has a special assignment and often a special job title—vegetable, fry, or sauce cook, for example. Executive chefs and head cooks coordinate the work of the kitchen staff and often direct the preparation of certain foods. They decide the size of servings, plan menus, and buy food supplies. Although the terms chef and cook still are used interchangeably, chefs tend to be more highly skilled and better trained than most cooks. Due to their skillful preparation of traditional dishes and refreshing twists in creating new ones, many chefs have earned fame for both themselves and for the establishments where they work."

According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, the occupational field with the largest job growth 2000-2010 is combined food preparation and serving, including fast food. The Department projects 673,000 new job in this field through 2010, which is about a 30 percent growth rate over the ten years.

The jobs in this field with the highest potential for annual earnings are the executive chef and upper chef management slots, all requiring a degree in Culinary Arts. How do you get that degree? Begin right now by requesting complimentary information from one of the top ranked Culinary Arts Schools on this site.