Inside Our Centers
By Joan Leotta
T
ammie Mullis stand ready to feed the senior population of Brunswick County. Mullis, food service manager for Brunswick Senior Resources, Inc., manages food prep at four kitchens in Calabash,
Leland, Shallotte, and Southport, and delivery to additional senior sites that serve lunch in Ash, Boiling Spring Lakes, Oak Island, and Supply. An army of volunteers prepare the meals served in senior centers and for the homebound. Mullis’s program provides the food for all of these. Brunswick County has been serving meals in its senior centers since 2010. A refugee from the snow in the western part of North Carolina where she attended culinary school, Mullis was lured by the sun and sea to move to Ocean Isle Beach in 2014 when she took a county job in food service. “Trinity Food Services made the food for the senior program when it first began. In 2016, the senior program began to prepare its own food under the direction of Ryan Gibbs.” In 2017, Gibbs moved on and Mullis took charge. “I’ve always liked cooking as a hobby, so when my company moved to Mexico in 2007, I went to culinary school in Wilkes County. Since moving here and working in food service, I still cook for fun. And I’ve added shag dancing to my hobbies.”
One of the biggest everyday challenges of the job is to provide food that is both nutritious and tasty, that balances what is good for people with what they want and will eat. The four centers with kitchens do their own ordering but everyone works from the same menu. “Menus are balanced according to guidance from the state, and are sent to a dietician for approval before they go out for preparation to our four chefs: Brett Baughman in Shallotte, Amber Ramsey in Southport, Doug Russell in Leland, and Tyler Hardy in Calabash. Although we can’t consider individual allergies and special requests, we prepare food that is considered senior-friendly—low salt and sugar, and balanced,” Mullis says. BSRI Food Service Manager Tammie Mullis is the person who oversees preparation and delivery of nutritious, delicious meals for the seniors of Brunswick County. She attended culinary school in Wilkes County but escaped to the beach, to the benefit of Brunswick County seniors.
“We do take suggestions from patrons for things to add to the menu, and also try to serve special items for holidays. And every so often we send out a survey to ask the folks who eat our food what they would like to see added to the lunch menu.”
