Well, the dust has settled on what just might be our best MenuDirections conference ever. Despite—or, perhaps, aided by—the less-than-optimum weather in Tampa, our more than 200 attendees said they had a great time learning and networking.
We had record sponsorship for the conference, and those sponsors provided value far beyond the products they presented at our various vendor fairs. From sustainable seafood to hog butchering, from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean, from lowering sodium to raising the fruit quotient of food, attendees certainly got their money’s worth from presenters with a wealth of knowledge on healthy foods.
Celebrity chef Jet Tila was on hand to demonstrate ways to prepare healthier foods, and he was followed by the always informative Dr. James Painter, who talked about the good and the bad sides of sugar. He was aided by two outstanding dietitians, Tara Gidus and Marie Spano, who shared their personal insights on sugar as a “friend or foe.”
Our awards banquet had a decidedly “Southern state of mind” as Darius Rucker might sing. Our Foodservice Director of the Year, Angelo Mojica, hails from Chapel Hill, N. C., where he is the director of food and nutrition at UNC Healthcare. Our first-ever Grand Goldie award winner was from North Carolina State University, just down the road from UNC in Raleigh-Durham. Finally, the team that won our first culinary competition was composed of Brent Lewis, from St. Joseph Hospital in Tampa, Fla., and Darrick Henry from Baylor Orthopedic & Spine Hospital in Arlington, Texas.
All in all, it was an event to be proud and—and to build on. We’ve already begun the planning process for MenuDirections 2014, which will be staged in Charlotte, N.C. Feb. 23-25. We hope to see you there.