The Culinary Academy of Las Vegas, the operator of the Springs Cafe at the Springs Preserve, hosted the First Grade Food Critics, a movement to promote nutrition education, career awareness and academic development among children in at-risk schools, to taste-test two new menu items for the 2012 Summer Food Service Program.

The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) is a federally funded program administered by Nevada’s Department of Education providing free nutritious meals to children in low-income areas Monday through Friday during the summer. The Academy, the largest SFSP sponsor in Nevada, provides meals to community centers, Boys and Girls Clubs, housing developments, and churches in North Las Vegas, Las Vegas and Henderson. Last summer the academy prepared 2,300 meals a day (125,000 total meals) and delivered them to 33 sites. The academy has received two Western Region Sunshine Awards from the U.S. Department of Agriculture: in 2008 for Improving the Nutrition Quality and Appeal of Meals and in 2010 for Increasing Participation and Community Partnerships.

The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in New York City announces a co-venture with Russian-based Dve Palochki restaurant group to open a series of culinary schools under the name SWISSAM Hospitality Business School. The first school is scheduled to open in St. Petersburg in September 2012 and a second location in Moscow during 2013. The third partner in the SWISSAM venture is IMI, a hospitality college based in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Dve Palochki, which operates more than 35 pan-Asian eateries in Russia, believes that the culinary- and hospitality-education market is underdeveloped in its country. The SWISSAM schools are designed to address that need through training students using curriculum from ICE for careers anywhere in the world, from hotels and resorts to high-end restaurants, caterers and cruise ships.

Culinary Institute of America (CIA) students Aubrey King and Jose Frayre are the two most recent recipients of The Jones Dairy Farm Scholarship Fund at the CIA, said Philip Jones, sixth-generation president of Jones Dairy Farm and a professionally trained chef.

Established in May 2006, the Jones Dairy Farm Scholarship Fund supports three scholarships each year. CIA juniors and seniors pursuing baccalaureate degrees in Culinary Arts Management can apply for the scholarship by submitting a short essay and original recipe using a Jones’ product. Awards are restricted to students with a demonstrated financial need and G.P.A. of 3.0 or higher. More information about the program is found at www.jonesdairyfarm.com

Chef Johnny Hernandez inspires foodservice educators at the 2012 CAFÉ Leadership Conference in San Antonio.

By Brent T. Frei

“Teachers and educators are some of my favorite people in the world,” said Johnny Hernandez as he began his keynote and shared his career story at the 2012 CAFÉ Leadership Conference at The Culinary Institute of America-San Antonio on June 23. “It’s our responsibility to teach.”

A successful chef, restaurateur and caterer, Hernandez told the story of his love and passion for food that began at age 5 in his father’s restaurant and at home in San Antonio’s westside neighborhood. At 9, he sold tacos from the restaurant to fellow students at school. Later, his home-economics teacher in high school accompanied Hernandez to the Marriott to ask for a cooking job.

Based on Mintel research, as age increases, so does the likelihood that adults are maintaining a mostly healthy diet.

Healthy eating has come to the forefront of many minds over the past several years with help from First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move program and TV shows like “The Biggest Loser,” not to mention the extensive media coverage regarding the country’s growing obesity problem. Indeed, this increased interest in healthy eating is highlighted by new research from Chicago-based Mintel that reveals that just over two-thirds (67%) of Americans choose healthier foods to stay well.

Measuring digestibility, researchers find almonds provide 20% fewer calories than labels state. The results might have implications for other foods, as well.

A study conducted by scientists from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and released in the August issue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) provides a new understanding of almonds’ calorie count, showing that whole almonds provide about 20% fewer calories than originally thought.

At first glance, the study results beg the question: How can a food’s calorie count suddenly change when the composition of the food itself hasn’t?

The answer is that David Baer, PhD, and his team from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) used a new method of measuring the calories in almonds, which built on traditional methods and allowed the researchers to determine the number of calories actually digested and absorbed from almonds. Resulting data showed a 1 ounce serving of almonds (about 23 almonds) has 129 calories versus the 160 calories currently listed on the Nutrition Facts Panel. The results might have implications for certain other foods, as well.

So Americans don’t cook anymore? That used to be true. The current economic climate has wrought good news for publishers of consumer cookbooks as U.S. households eat more meals at home, reports NPD.

U.S. families are more likely to be eating meals at home today, and the use of recipes is growing as a result, according to Port Washington, N.Y.-based The NPD Group, a leading market research company. A recently released NPD recipe-usage report finds the use of a recipe(s) once a week or more has increased from 37% of households in 2005 to 42% in 2011.

Two-thirds of all homemakers (67%) have used a recipe within the past month, and two in five (42%) use recipes even more often, according to the NPD report, entitled “Recipes are Cooking!” Dinner is the dominant recipe-using occasion. Nearly 38 million U.S. households have used a recipe while preparing dinner in the past week, and on a typical evening, 11 million households used a recipe to cook dinner.

One-third of the nation’s population 19 years old and younger is expected to be Latino by 2015. A Dallas-based pizza chain is already preparing for the slew of new customers.

In 2010, the Census Bureau reported that for every nine births among Hispanics, there was one death, compared to a roughly 1-1 ratio among whites. Experts have predicted that today’s young and expanding Hispanic population is a precursor of what mainstream America will look like tomorrow. With this continuing cultural shift, Dallas-based Pizza Patrón projects a doubling of its store count over the next three years.

Legendary pastry chef and baker Dieter Schorner continues to teach undergraduates at the CIA every day.

Dieter G. Schorner, a leader in the pastry field for decades, celebrated his 75th birthday on June 19, 2012. His colleagues in the Baking and Pastry Arts Department at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, N.Y., presented him with a surprise birthday cake on June 18. Schorner, a professor at the not-for-profit culinary college, has served on the CIA faculty since 1999. He was one of the opening chefs for the Apple Pie Bakery Café on the Hyde Park campus in 2000 and currently teaches basic and classical cakes.

In an era of social networking, having real conversations and deepening your connections with people takes skill and will. But the byproducts are new energy and excitement—and being heard.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

Last month, this column discussed helping students connect with ideas; this month we turn the focus to ourselves and discuss our connections with other persons—a fitting subject for your summer when you have a chance to slow down and reflect on what you do and why you do it. I hope this column encourages you to expand your reflections.

Meaning of Connection
Currently, when we think of being connected, we typically refer to the forms of social media and the ways we use them. It means we are proud of using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare and other programs. We also look for suggestions about how to maximize the benefits of being electronically connected since that means being up to date and technologically literate.