Membership Qualifications and Guidelines

The Guild's By-Laws state the types of memberships and the requirements. The Membership Committee shall use the Guidelines for Membership as a set of standards to assist them in membership selection.

BY-LAW Requirements

Active Member: A member who is presently active and has a minimum of three consecutive years of professional experience in a culinary related field.

Associate Member: A recent culinary school graduate and/or an entrant with less than three consecutive years of experience in a culinary related field; or, a person on leave or retired from the profession.

Student Member: a student who is currently enrolled in a culinary program.

Corporate Member: Must be involved in a culinary-related field: offer culinary arts and related educational programs at a certified institution, be a retailer or wholesaler of food related products (wine, food, cookware, books).


GUIDELINES for Membership

Journalism
Author: must have 1 book published in the culinary field

Writer: must have at least 10 published articles in the culinary field

Editor: (a) must have worked on 3 book projects within the culinary field, or (b) must be employed by an established newspaper or magazine as an editor in the culinary field. Education

Teacher of the culinary arts: (a) must teach at least 10 hours per week in a school system or established‹ cooking program, or (b) must teach at least 40 classes per year.

Culinary Historian: must lecture, write, or do research for an established sponsor for at least 200 hours per year

Culinary librarian: must work for an established culinary collection for at least 200 hours per year

Television and radio personality: must have appeared on TV or broadcast on radio at least 15 times over a 3 year period, the substance of which appearance must have been in the culinary field.

Business
Caterer: (a) must provide full food service for at least 50 functions per year, or (b) must provide home food service of at least 500 hours per year

Restaurateur: must be the owner, co-owner, or manager (or equivalent thereof, i.e. food service director) of a restaurant or dining service

Food or cookware retailer/wholesaler: must be the owner, co-owner, or manager of an established business

Wine retailer or wholesaler: must be the owner, co-owner, or manager of an established— business

Consultant: must work 500 hours per year as a consultant in a food or wine related field

Food photographer: must work 500 hours per year as a consultant in a food or wine related field

Recipe tester, recipe developer or food stylist: must work 500 hours per year as a consultant in a food or wine related field (a) must be employed full time in a year round or seasonal (at least 3 months) restaurant or food establishment (b) must have full authority and supervision of the kitchen and menu (c) may be called executive chef, chief steward, working chef.
As stand-in for the chef, the following may apply here as well: sous chef, night chef, Chef de Partie, banquet chef (a) must be employed as a cook in a restaurant or food establishment and must work at least 20 hours per week in that job (b) may include such titles as second cook, soup cook, broiler cook, vegetable cook, swing cook, garde-manger, fry cook, assistant cook, baker's helper, assistant to the pastry chef

Pastry Chef: must have full supervision and responsibility of a restaurant or food establishment pastry department

Baker: must have full responsibility of production and operation of the bakery department of a restaurant or food service establishment

Sommelier: must be employed full time in a year round or seasonal restaurant or food establishment and must be in charge of the wine cellar and of the wine service to customers


Note: A combination of the preceding categories may make candidates eligible for membership, as well as variations in any one of the categories as the Committee sees fit.— The culinary profession encompasses many fields. The guidelines suggest qualifications required in these fields, but are not meant to exclude anybody who is actively involved in the field; indeed, their intent is to strengthen the meaning of a professional guild and to make membership in such an organization a source of pride and accomplishment.