Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Los Angeles strikes meaningful collaboration with USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism to reinvent nutritious recipes for food-pantry patrons.

More than six million U.S. households relied on emergency food from a food pantry one or more times in 2011¹, and with a limited choice of fare, many food-pantry patrons could benefit from suggestions on how to prepare the items they receive, especially fresh produce. Chef instructors at Le Cordon Bleu in L.A. have partnered with the University of Southern California to contribute their culinary expertise and develop new recipes that make produce less intimidating for the novice cook.

To help arm food-pantry patrons with the necessary information to cook fresh fruits and vegetables to create a healthy meal, chef instructors at LCB in L.A. worked together to craft 60 new recipes and modify a list of 200 easily prepared recipes that feature fresh produce. These efforts are part of a University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg research program known as Quick! Help for Meals. The recipes are designed for clients of food pantries to provide suggestions on how to prepare the food they receive.

Ryan receives Innovation Award at Restaurant Industry Conference.

Acknowledging Dr. Tim Ryan’s leadership and commitment to the food and restaurant industry, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) honored the president of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) with its 2013 Innovation Award. Ryan received the award at the UCLA Extension Restaurant Industry Conference on the university’s campus on April 3.

“Recognition by such an outstanding institution as UCLA testifies to the excellence of our college’s educational programsand industry conferences,” Ryan said. “We are proud of our continuing innovations, including new majorsand concentrationsthat will further prepare CIA students to shape the future of cooking and the foodservice industry.”

The award recognizes highly influential leaders who have greatly contributed to the evolving landscape of the food, beverage, and restaurant industry. Previous award winners have included Jose Andres, Wolfgang Puck and the Hillstone Restaurant Group.

“Dr. Ryan has earned this honor through his many commitments to the industry and its future, and UCLA Extension is thrilled to name him as the recipient of the 2013 Innovation Award,” said Van Anderson, program director at UCLA Extension.

CMAA and Club Benchmarking release club industry 2012 Economic Impact Report.

The Club Managers Association of America based in Alexandria, Va.,announces the recent release of the 2012 Economic Impact Report in conjunction with Club Benchmarking. This report details the economic impact of the 2,500 clubs managed by members of CMAA in 2011.

Statistics at a Glance

 • The total income for clubs in 2011 was $18 billion.

 • The total direct economic impact for clubs in 2011 was $19 billion, including all tax    revenues generated as a result of club activities.

 • Clubs employ 326,000 employees, with payrolls equaling $9 billion.

 • Clubs serve between 1.7 and 2.0 million members.

 • Clubs raise and contribute $124 million in funds to charitable causes.  

 • Clubs distribute $12 million in student scholarships.

 • Clubs spend $2.4 billion on goods and an additional $1.7 billion on services in their local communities.

 • Clubs as a whole pay $2.6 billion in total taxes; $1.6 billion of which are local and state taxes.

Although the trend in the United States was thought to have run its course in 2011, the number of American adults eschewing gluten is growing, making “gluten free” the health issue of the day.

About a third of U.S. adults say they want to cut down or be free of gluten in their diets, the highest percentage making this claim since The NPD Group, a leading global information company, began asking the question in 2009. NPD’s Dieting Monitor,which continually tracks on a biweekly basis top-of-mind dieting and nutrition-related issues facing consumers, reports that 30% of adults—or roughly one in every three—claimed to cut down on or avoid gluten completely in January 2013.

For many students, composing a bibliography with correct citations is a difficult accomplishment, but it needn’t be thanks to the rule of three: Cite, summarize and assess.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

Last month, we discussed the value of writing white papers, a different kind of assignment. For the next few months, we will focus on critical thinking, something we all value and many of us work to incorporate in our teaching and in our assignments.

This month, we will discuss the value of assigning annotated bibliographies as a way to encourage critical reading and writing. Next month, we will explain how requiring abstracts and executive summaries can serve a similar purpose and remind students not to absorb everything they find in print as the truth.

The Structure of an Annotated Bibliography
For many students, composing a bibliography with correct citations is a difficult accomplishment. Making them write an annotated bibliography, which some of them have never seen, extends the challenge. However, it does not need to be so difficult if you remember the rule of three (or CSA); there are three parts to an annotated bibliography: the citation, the summary and the assessment—Cite, Summarize and Assess.