A career educator with 42 years in the food business divulges “musts” to achieve the critical successful relationship between culinary graduate and employer.

By Paul Sorgule, MS, AAC

Even with unemployment looming as one of our country’s greatest challenges, restaurants, hotels and resorts still struggle to find enough qualified, professionally committed individuals to staff their kitchen brigades. Last count there were somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 schools in the United States with culinary programs. Why is there still a gap between supply and demand?

This year marks my 42^nd year in some facet of the food business. I spent 10 years in kitchens from line cook to executive chef after a two-year college program in hotel management. Twenty-six years followed in college-level culinary education beginning as instructor and finishing as the dean of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management. During that time I completed both baccalaureate and master’s degrees in related fields and dedicated a few weeks each year working in kitchens to stay fresh. I worked diligently with the American Culinary Federation to earn accreditation for the program, served a few years on the Accreditation Committee and was appointed as the chair of the ACF National Education Committee. This time in education afforded me the opportunity to serve as a member of the 1988 New England Culinary Olympic Team and in 2001 was honored as the ACF National Culinary Educator of the Year.

When is a food “heirloom,” and when is it “heritage”? And is buying “local” more or less beneficial to the planet than buying “organic”? Here’s a briefing on teaching the meaning of popular food buzzwords to students.

By G. Allen Akmon, CEC, CHE

Accept the fact that when you decided on an exciting career within the foodservice industry, you were headed on a journey of lifelong learning. In order to help you solidify that notion, you are likely attempting to keep up a steady diet of the latest menu-enhancing buzzwords and current trends that rely in large part on historical and/or sustainable products. The verbiage can be overwhelming or even mystical in the fact that many seem to be using the terminology in a slightly different fashion.

Now consider the fact that if you are in the field of educating future generations of culinarians, it is not quite enough just to be familiar with terms like heirloom, antique and heritage.

New confections and snacks offer a reliable barometer of consumers’ evolving flavor demands and food choices, as revealed at the 2012 Sweets & Snacks Expo.

Fun fruits and shared sweets, foreign flavors and healthy snacks are emerging as the trends to meet the ever-evolving appetites of consumers. The 2012 Sweets & Snacks Expo, which began on the last day of this year’s NRA Show in Chicago, featured new products from more than 560 companies leading the industry with the new flavors that meet consumers’ tastes.

It’s barbecue season, after all. Here are 10 tips from an educator and registered dietitian to make dishes served at the time-honored American backyard celebration both delicious and more healthful.

By Renee Zonka, RD, CEC, CHE

At the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts in Chicago, one of the biggest trends we see in healthy eating among Americans is a desire for “better for you” dishes. Foods can be mouth-watering and satisfying, yet with lower saturated fat, calories or sodium or more dietary fiber—or all of these.

Barbecuing is an excellent opportunity to serve more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, leaner meats and antioxidant-rich seafoods—because virtually everything tastes better when cooked outdoors.

Here are 10 easy, delicious ideas for “Building a Better-for-You Barbecue”:

As foodservice operators and food manufacturers aim to remove trans fats and reduce saturated fats from foods, functionality and taste will remain the top priorities. This means that ingredient companies must provide more than simple drop-in solutions to solve food-industry problems. Research, education and culinary support are essential for food companies to offer healthier products. To develop a new product or improve the nutrition profile of a customer’s favorite food, companies can now look to ingredient partners for culinary resources and expertise.

There are many different ways that healthier options can be made available to students in school cafeterias. It is up to culinary educators to take action and make these changes happen.

By Jenni Schouppe

Trying to offer more healthy options and choices for school lunches has become a hot topic across the country. The big question has become: How can schools do this with the amount of money and funding they receive to run their foodservice? What can we do as educators to help make this change?

As childhood obesity rises in this county, it has become imperative that more healthy choices be made available to students in the school foodservice. To make this happen, it is also imperative that staff, students and families become educated in how to make this happen.

Giuseppe Ricciardi took a big risk by opening a second operation next to the longstanding Fairfax favorite he’d owned since 1994. But that bet, like his other restaurant ventures, is paying off.

By Lynn Schwartz

We all know the daunting facts—a large percentage of restaurants fail in their first year and for those that do make it, longevity is rare. So most chef-owners who operate a thriving business count their lucky stars and don’t mess with the concept. Many might duplicate a successful model in another city, but few would risk competing with their own restaurant by opening a second location nearby.

Continuing the theme of “connecting” from last month, this month Dr. Mayo asks us to consider the value of the four Ps.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

Last month, this column explained ways to help students connect with their peers and industry professionals. This month, we will talk about connecting students with ideas and best practices, a critical aspect of teaching the culinary arts.

The challenge of connecting students to ideas is a continuing one for most of us who teach culinary students. It is something we all like to see happen and work hard to make occur; sometimes it seems easy, but often it is a continuing experiment. One way to think about what you can do is to consider four strategies: Parallel, Promotional, Practical and Provocative.

Here are the first five of 10 critical things you must teach your students if you truly want them to earn gainful employment.

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

I am a firm believer that we must not only teach our students technical skills, but we must also teach them jobs skills and life skills. If they can’t get a job, can’t keep a job or can’t manage their lives, then they will be doomed to failure even if they have the cooking skills of Escoffier. This month and next month I am writing about how to teach your students to find a job.

I realize that it might seem an odd time to be publishing this article since for many of you the academic year just ended. However, for most of us, teaching our students how to find a job needs to be worked into our curriculum on a weekly, if not daily, basis. Below are five points to be included in your curriculum. The remaining five will be published next month.

Thai Fresh Pea Soup is merely one delicious creation that capitalizes on the fresh bounty of the season.

In 1970, the first Earth Day was organized to promote environmental awareness and encourage stewardship of our natural resources. That first, massive grassroots movement by student demonstrators, schools and communities began with Senator Gaylord Nelson’s efforts to put environmental concerns on the political agenda.

More than ever, Americans today are making smarter choices to help keep Mother Earth “green.” The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is teaching the next generation of chefs to be stewards of the environment. The college’s green initiatives were recently featured on public radio’s Living on Earth. You can listen to the segment online here.

Now is a great time to “go green” in the kitchen. As our thoughts turn to gardening and farming, it’s time to turn over a new, green leaf. Farmers' markets are putting out their crops of the season.