Plan menus that are varied, nutritionally balanced, and appetizing, taking advantage of foods in season and local availability.

“Plan menus that are varied, nutritionally balanced, and appetizing, taking advantage of foods in season and local availability.” is a supplemental task performed by Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria. Among the occupation's 17 rated tasks, workers place it 8th by importance (#10 most important). About 58% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Develop recipes or menus. in Thinking Creatively

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E2. Exposure with tools — software built on top of a language model (not the model alone) could cut the time by at least half.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.50. Automation potential label: T2.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Monitor and record food temperatures to ensure food safety. · importance 4.7
• Cook foodstuffs according to menus, special dietary or nutritional restrictions, or numbers of portions to be served. · importance 4.7
• Rotate and store food supplies. · importance 4.6
• Wash pots, pans, dishes, utensils, or other cooking equipment. · importance 4.6
• Apportion and serve food to facility residents, employees, or patrons. · importance 4.6
• Clean and inspect galley equipment, kitchen appliances, and work areas to ensure cleanliness and functional operation. · importance 4.6
• Clean, cut, and cook meat, fish, or poultry. · importance 4.5
• Monitor use of government food commodities to ensure that proper procedures are followed. · importance 4.4
• Direct activities of one or more workers who assist in preparing and serving meals. · importance 4.4
• Monitor menus and spending to ensure that meals are prepared economically. · importance 4.3
• Compile and maintain records of food use and expenditures. · importance 4.3
• Train new employees. · importance 4.3
• Take inventory of supplies and equipment. · importance 4.2
• Requisition food supplies, kitchen equipment, and appliances, based on estimates of future needs. · importance 4.2

See all tasks on the Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria page.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-9498,
  title  = {Plan menus that are varied, nutritionally balanced, and appetizing, taking advantage of foods in season and local availability.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-9498}
}