Over the 15 plus years that I worked in the Restaurant world, I noticed a big change in the kitchen staff from mostly culinary school educated to mostly spanish speaking and self taught.
It does not seem that the cook's wages have changed that much and reading Staggered By Debt in the San Francisco Chronicle today put these things in perspective.
The article focuses in part on Ethan Winsby who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and due to the loans he incurred to study there is close to bankruptcy.
With the cost of studying at CIA or Johnson & Wales in the $30.000/ $40.000 range can someone afford to work as a cook for $10.00 to $15.00 an hour? Not everyone can be or become a chef of course.
Will people be punished for following their passion?
By the same token can someone who graduated from dishwasher to salad person to the grill without the culinary background deliver the goods, time will tell!