Paul King
Articles by
Paul King
Page 23Harebrained scheme
Monday mornings can be so enlightening. When I come into the office to start off my week, one of the first things I do is review stories that have been brought to my attention through Google Alerts. The articles range from the educational to the amusing to the thought-provoking.
Little things matter
Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking before the biennial meeting of the Food Service Management Educators Council at the National Food Service Management Institute at the University of Mississippi. The members are faculty of universities around the country with Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management programs.
I had an interesting and engaging interview Monday morning with George Miller, retired U.S. Air Force veteran, current chief of food and beverage operations for the Air Force, and current IFMA Silver Plate winner in the Specialty Foodservice category. It was the kind of interview where you just turn on the tape recorder and sit back and listen.
Last weekend, FoodService Director and CSP Information Group gave New Orleans a small but, I’m sure, much-appreciated shot in the arm when the city hosted our ninth annual MenuDirections conference. We had record attendance, which meant more than 200 people contributing financially to the restaurant, bar and tchotchke businesses in town.
I read an interesting OpEd piece in the Los Angeles Times last week, about the return to “normalcy” in the Longworth Building cafeteria at the U.S. House of Representatives. The writer was celebrating the fact that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s greening initiative in the cafeteria apparently has failed.
The World Health Organization, product of the dysfunction United Nations, announced last week that its members will discuss ways to reduce the amount of junk food marketing aimed at children around the world. The discussion is scheduled to take place during the U.N. General Assembly meeting this coming September.
After spending a much-needed week off from work—during which time I still managed to log in a couple of hours of work each day—I returned to our lower Manhattan offices to begin the full-court press to wrap up all the details on our ninth MenuDirections conference, which will take place Feb. 27-March 1 in New Orleans.
I read an interesting article over the weekend. Printed in The Financial, it was a recap of a Rasmussen Reports telephone survey that covered a variety of topics having to do with the Obama Administration. Included were questions regarding the recent passage of what is now known as the Healthy, Hungry Free Kids Act.
First of all, I just want to state how happy I am that Congress finally stepped up and made an effort toward giving school foodservice operators the money they need to make school meals healthier. The $4.5 billion pledged over 10 years may not solve all of the problems operators face, but it certainly is a start.