“No Chef!” – Unmaking the culture of misogyny in professional kitchens

Since the #MeToo movement became popularized a little over a year ago, a growing number of business leaders and high-profile public figures have resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct. The movement exposed fraught, toxic and often deliberately hidden cultures of harassment, which had become normalized in the workplace. The hospitality sector was no exception. Many saw these revelations as the watershed moment that would finally upend the culinary industry’s pervasive “bro” culture.

The food industry in North America had its own “Harvey Weinstein moment” in late 2017.  Twenty-five female employees came forward with sexual misconduct and harassment allegations against prominent American chef and cooking personality John Besh. The accusations not only uncovered Besh’s predatory behaviour, but were also evidence of the implications of being a woman in a professional kitchen. While Besh denies the majority of the claims made against him, the example set by his accusers has empowered and inspired other women across North America to come forward. In the past year, a number of prominent chefs including Mario Batali and Norman Hardie have been inculpated in similar sexual misconduct investigations.

The culinary industry has long glorified its machismo culture; a fast-paced, high-pressure environment populated by renegades who endure long hours, unrelenting heat, pain and excessive drinking and drug use. For women who do try to emulate the overwhelming masculinity in the kitchen, the expectation is disproportionately demanding. Women are expected to “be cool” when their male colleagues spew vulgarity or harass female staff. Women in the industry are adamant that a cultural shift is necessary and that more needs to be done than simply removing deviant executive chefs one at a time.

Empowering female chefs and executives is an important first step and is long overdue in redefining the culinary industry. Over the past year, a number of large food corporations have selected women to replace accused men atop their corporate structures. Besh’s company, now known as BRG Hospitality, recently hired Shannon White as CEO (Mr. Batali has done likewise). White has already taken important strides in disrupting the toxic culture that was ingrained in the company. She has introduced more effective policies for sexual harassment reporting that are less onerous on victims. She has also revamped training programs, and has created an anonymous tip line that directly relays incidents to human resources. The programs have led to the dismissal of dozens of workers and are recognized by the employees as a valuable step in the right direction.

Yet, the timing of these women’s assent has somewhat undermined and cheapened the significance of this progress. Rather than demonstrating a sincere desire to begin the long process of debunking the toxic patriarchy, beleaguered chefs are scrambling to throw a woman to the front of their organization in an attempt to protect their own image from further damage. Female leaders are expected to clean up a mess created by men and instil change fast.

Although toxic attitudes and behaviours have been removed among the food sector’s largest corporations, widespread change in the industry requires a more fundamental shift within small businesses, the more ubiquitous actor in the food industry. These establishments do not have HR departments where incidents can be systematically addressed. Furthermore, these companies often do not have adequate resources to provide staff with anti-sexual harassment training. Thus, concerted grassroots reform, which directly engages individual businesses, will be equally crucial in breeding a cultural renaissance. For example, in New York, Karen Leibowitz and Kelli Anderson created an anti-sexual harassment poster which portrays, through powerful visuals, a person’s rights when subject to misconduct in the workplace. The hope is that these posters will help make anti-harassment dialogue more commonplace, and, if a prospective employee were to show up for an interview and did not see one of these posters on display, he or she would be deterred from working there (Karen and Kelli’s poster is the banner for this article and is available here).

Hanging a poster might seem inconsequential when compared to the public demise of a celebrity chef, yet these collective efforts maintain awareness within smaller businesses which are equally susceptible to harassment. As prominent Toronto chef Jen Agg put it: “The world of restaurants is a rusty old cargo ship – hot, loud, slow to change course”. Any sweeping change in the hospitality industry would be radical, but not unattainable.

A year ago, the global #MeToo movement revealed harrowing accounts of what it is like to be a female employed in the restaurant industry. The time is now for individual businesses to leverage this sentiment and implement meaningful anti-sexual harassment policies. Furthermore, these businesses should take part in setting a new course for the industry; an arduous process for which men should carry the majority of the burden. Male leadership is responsible for allowing and oftentimes enabling, the culinary sector’s descent into the misogynistic environment it is widely perceived to be today. However, past failures are not a justification for men to simply step back as women alone strive to heal a sick culture. Cooperation and collaboration between male and female chefs will be crucial in order to upend the entrenched harassment and inequality present in the industry and lay the foundations for a more inclusive and profession. Part of the responsibility must also rest with customers, who can elicit change with their wallets.