Operations
Making a difference
I have always been skeptical of claims that the quality of foodservice is a determining factor in a student’s choice of college. When I was considering my higher education, cost and academics were my main measurements and food never entered into the equation.
Operations
Hospital food: The big enigma?
I read an interesting blog over the weekend, on a restaurant site called FohBoh. (FohBoh stands for Front of House, Back of House.) A FohBohist—that’s what they call their bloggers—by the name of Keith Eberhardt was asking for “some decent dialogue” on what he called “The Big Enigma: Hospital ‘cuisine.’”
On Tuesday, there was an interesting article in the Boulder (Colo.) Daily Camera, which we highlighted in our In The News section of the Web site. The newspaper reported that the Boulder Valley Board of Education has raised $400,000, toward a goal of $700,000, to improve breakfast and lunch menus in Boulder schools.
A New Jersey man, with the support of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, has sued Denny’s Corp. over the levels of sodium in its menu items. Nick DeBenedetto, who according to the suit suffers from hypertension that is controlled by medication, wants Denny’s to disclose the amount of sodium in all its menu items and place a warning about high levels of sodium on the menu.
Benjamin Disraeli once said, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” I’m not sure which category the following falls into, but I definitely find it hard to believe. Researchers from Duke University, Baruch College and Loyola College of Maryland collaborated recently on an experiment that purports to show that restaurant chains do much more harm than good when they add healthy items to their menus.
Even though talking with chefs and foodservice directors in non-commercial operations would suggest that customers are clamoring for Indian cuisine, Thai food remains at the top of the list of “hot” cuisines, according to the results of the 2009 Menu Development survey compiled by FoodService Director.