Food services programs teach people to prepare and serve food in various settings such as restaurants, bars, and cafeterias. Students learn to mix drinks, prepare food, and cut and package meat. They also learn sanitary principles and health regulations.

Do you ever marvel at the seemingly perfect creations that chefs such as Sara Moulton, Emeril Lagasse, and Mario Batali produce, from a three-tiered berry mousse cake to a crown roast of lamb? Do you wonder how they can cook such masterpieces and still have time to write cookbooks, run restaurants, and host television cooking shows?

Let's not kid ourselves. These chefs are indeed talented culinary artists. But there's no way that they could produce so much food without the skill and hard work of food service workers.

These workers wash, chop, peel, slice, and puree, to name just a few food preparation techniques. They mix your drinks, bring you your food, and even carve down slabs of meat into the steaks, roasts, or chops that you can buy in the store.

As students in this program, you take courses in various food preparation and cooking techniques. You study principles of sanitation and food safety. In addition, because this program also prepares you to be a waiter or bartender, you learn to interact with customers and clients.

Many community colleges, vocational, and proprietary schools offer programs in food services. You typically earn a certificate or diploma in this program. Some schools offer associate degrees.

A certificate or diploma typically takes about a year of full-time study after high school. An associate degree usually takes up to two years.