7 takeaways from the CIA’s Menus of Change conference

An updated roadmap for improving the healthfulness of America’s diet was reviewed in detail during the Menus of Change conference at the Culinary Institute of America’s main campus in Hyde Park, New York. The three-day event, which paid particular attention to the opportunities within noncommercial feeding, packed a number of surprises. Here are seven.

1. Foodservice operators’ obligation is to lead on health not just respond

In a philosophical departure from long-prevailing wisdom, experts on healthful eating insisted that foodservice operators switch from being reactive—giving customers what they demand—to being proactive, or leading patrons to the right choice. “Informing and fostering changes around food choices is one of the most effective ways to promote health and sustainability,” declared Greg Drescher, the CIA’s VP of strategic initiatives and industry leadership and a co-host of Menus of Change. “We have plenty of evidence now that we can lead the consumer.”

2. Swapping vegetables for protein is Job One

The CIA’s Menus of Change initiative, a collection of best practices intended to promote health and sustainability in tandem, even has a sound byte for the strategy: The Protein Flip. “No other single decision in the professional kitchen or the board room can do as much,” Drescher said.

A big part of that, he added, is cutting the number and size of meat servings. But he cautioned that operators don’t have to make radical moves; there’s no imperative for a kneejerk reaction.  As he explained, operators tell their customers, “Oh, you want to eat less meat? Then we’re going to take you all the way down to a portabello burger.” A move that drastic isn’t necessary.

Instead, several speakers suggested, vegetable ingredients, from mushrooms to beans and grains, can be mixed with ground meat for a less-jarring choice. One reception featured an array of sliders made with vegetable-meat mixtures, as well as purely vegetarian versions. A CIA professor noted that a colleague is experimenting with a breakfast sausage that’s half pork, half quinoa.

3. The flavor threshold is rising

The imperative that healthy food be tasty as well as nutritious is an outmoded notion. “What you need to do is increase the appeal of produce to stay ahead of the pack,” Drescher advised foodservice operators in the audience. “Today, increasing the appeal does not mean to just make it taste good, but, in this business to make, it crave-able.”

4. The CIA is aiming to upend noncommercial culinary education

And set a new benchmark for college-and-university feeding in the process. One of the sidelights of the Menus of Change conference was a preview of the Hyde Park campus’ new student-feeding facility, The Egg, which opens in about a week. The center is part state-of-the-art dining hall, part teaching facility for tomorrow’s noncommercial chefs, and part concept incubator, a la the hit show Shark Tank. Teams of CIA students will pitch ideas for a concept. The best notion will be greenlighted to be built out and run for a semester in The Egg.

The facility will adopt the Menus of Change principles to promote health and sustainability. For instance, the burgers served in one section of the multi-station center will feature meat-veggie mixtures. To introduce tomorrow’s chefs to how those products “eat,” freshmen will be on a meal plan that provides a strong incentive to try those healthier preparations.

Parts of the dining hall will be managed by Compass Group’s Restaurant Associates.

5. Chickpeas could be the next kitchen staple

The bean was cited time and again as a way of delivering a silkiness and a pleasing, familiar consistency without using saturated fats or wheat.  Franklin Becker, chef-co-proprietor of The Little Beet fast-casual concept in New York City, showed how he uses chickpeas as the foundation for a healthier Caesar salad dressing. Jehangir Mehta, chef-owner of Mehtaphor restaurant in New York, used a chickpea flour in place of eggs for an omelet.

6. Then again, carrots may be the next “it” vegetable

The garden staple was celebrated as the possible successor to kale and Brussels sprouts as the day’s marquee vegetable—an ingredient that cries health, speakers asserted. The roasted version is a particularly strong up and comer, they contended.

7. The public is realizing not all fats are the same

Saturated and polyunsaturated variations are being decoupled in the minds of regulators and even forward-thinking consumers, several presenters noted. The realization that some fats can be a health boon could change the game by giving operators more leeway in their kitchens and on their menus, according to the experts. Of particular import is the expectation that the USDA may differentiate the two forms in the pending update of recommended daily dietary allowances.

The Menus of Change conference was presented by the CIA in collaboration with Harvard University’s School of Public Health.