There was a time not too long ago when you needed to be someone important to have a voice or to be heard. Times have surely changed.

With the advent of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and thousands of blogs, everyone has a voice these days. People from the “old school” like myself would probably consider watching paint dry more enjoyable than “tweeting.” However, it must be important to someone to know what you are doing every five minutes because this method of communication has really taken off. I can’t figure it out, but I’ve never claimed to be the sharpest tool in the shed or the tastiest French fry in the happy meal.

These forms of communication link millions every day. Information travels to and fro. Businesses make a living out of it. In shifting the focus to our industry, the idea of instant communication has the potential for great value.

Before making a purchase, you are able to read reviews from previous buyers. The same real-time feedback can help us in the hospitality procurement field. I will give you my own example.

As a participant in LinkedIn, I am a member of four industry groups, which are online discussion forums that connect people throughout the industry. If I want to get comments on the quality of a certain table, see who has comments on a certain brand of product, etc, the feedback is only a few keystrokes away. Granted, the online discussion forums are not scientific research. But they are forums for informational exchange. The information obtained on these forums is what marketing firms would spend large sums of money in trying to obtain through their own research. Online discussion forums can be a true procurement resource in your purchasing arsenal because they give a voice to the everyday buyer like you and me.

While you will probably not see me “tweeting” any time soon, you can rest assured I will use online discussion forums to help me be a better buyer.

While I don’t know what the future holds for the hospitality industry, I do know that an introspective glance back never hurts as you make plans and promises for the coming year. I grew up at a time when in grade school we practiced crawling under our desks as a preventative measure against a nuclear war. My parents cried for joy when I was vaccinated against Polio. I came of age with 8-track tapes and still enjoy Zagnut candy bars. If it doesn’t test your mettle to hear from someone who has crested fifty years in life, read on!

I started working for my first restaurant when I was fifteen years old and was glad to have found a part time job. The daily challenge of providing food and drink to an unknown number of patrons and making a business out of transforming strangers into regulars had an allure for me that continues to this day. It suited me and I stayed.

Now when I say ‘suited,’ do not mistake that for a belief that I had some sort of a special gift. I am not a famous chef, but instead I grew into the role of manager because I had a knack — a knack for thinking, talking and doing. Subsequently, I led and managed places of my own, as well as places for other folks of all sizes and styles: restaurants, taverns, nightclubs, casual service, quick-service, fast-service, entertainment complexes, single units, multiple units, local, national and U.S. government-owned.

As is likely the case for many of you, I am visited by ghosts of the past during this time of the year. They weave and wisp through my mind reminding me of where I have come from and how rocky that road has been. Just imagine…when I started out in this industry there weren’t any POS systems or computers in the office and people blew their cigarette smoke right in your face every chance they had; I watched as red meat was frightened out of fashion, then back in, out again, in; Disco (the music and the lifestyle) self-emolliated before my eyes (and rightly so); I made some money when Country music galloped into the city and lost some when sports became a 24/7 fixation; and I flirted around the abyss of addictions that vanished many of my friends with the slow efficiency of a hand crank meat grinder.

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Somewhere between the third and the (always a mistake) fourth Manhattan over the holidays, I found myself in a transcendental trance that ripped the very fabric of the space-time continuum. I was able to look deeply into my past, a relatively mistake-laden era and also see off into the future. Since I like to keep my own future a mystery to me, I looked into our collective future. Here are the fearless predictions for 2010.

January: In an effort to “start the new year right,” new marketing campaigns will hit the ground running, extolling the glories of “new service, new low rates, and free breakfast and/or lunch and/or dinner.” These campaigns will cost a combined $4.5 million. Occupancy increases by 1.75% and net additional profits will total $17.53. Sales and Marketing people deem the effort a complete success. Most chefs shake their heads and mutter something profane under their breaths.

February 2010: Most F&B folks are beginning to ponder things in their operations since cutbacks have forced many managers into doing more day-to-day functions. Questions pop up like: Why do we need all that liquor on a banquet bar? Why do I have dark and light crème de cacao on that same banquet bar? Green and white crème de menthe, are you kidding me? How many grasshoppers are we serving? If I sell approximately 50 bottles of wine a month, do I really need a fifty-bottle wine list? Streamlining happens in a big way. Spring menus start to get written. F&B people realize that, yes, the capital plan was approved and, no, we’re not getting squat.

March 2010: The government declares the recession is indeed over. There is much rejoicing. Relishing the news, most hotels tell their owners they’ll only miss GOP by 15% for the quarter. The owners are less than thrilled. A steady increase of high quality, in-house coffee products is seen in the form of kiosks and cafes, since we finally figured out the $8 dollar venti-soy-latte-cappa-frappa-no-whip-half-skim craze isn’t going away. Starbucks Corporation reportedly says, “Well, duh.”

April 2010: Most hotels realize there are three or four places in town that are known for doing Easter brunch really well. So they let them do it and save a ton of labor and product cost. Spending money wisely continues. Servers and cooks who have been saving really good, albeit phony, excuses for why they need the day off are understandably disappointed. Fans of Arbor Day fear their hopes of a glorious buffet are doomed. In sports news, with the 2010 season just weeks old, the Pittsburgh Pirates are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

May 2010: Another sign of economic recovery appears. Brides who once had $45 dollars per person to spend are now coming in with a budget of $46.50. Congress hails this as a “return to the boom time.” Also, due to swift movement on the healthcare reform bill, each employee who is injured on the job will now receive $1.8 million dollars. This entitles them to a three-hour stay at the emergency room, ten minutes in front of an actual doctor, 200 mg of ibuprofen, and a SpongeBob SquarePants Band-Aid.

June 2010: Lady GaGa eats a caper and claims, “It was salty.” Every news organization in the country picks up the story. The beef industry raises prices due to “recent events in the news” and, oddly, no one seems to notice that cows and capers have nothing to do with each other. Thousands of watermelons are then recalled but mostly because watermelons feel they could use the press.

July 2010: A hotel in California has created an ultra-high-end, organic, triple-filtered frozen fruit juice that is placed on a stick-like serving device. The Kardashians become fans and the price rises to $13 a piece. Several trade publications pick up the story. Most everyone in the Midwest eating a popsicle thinks most everyone in California is nuts. Attempting to cash in a growing nostalgia market and get adults to relive their childhoods, Coca-Cola announces that Dasani water will now taste like “the hose” for just under $8 a bottle.

August 2010: The GM announces it’s not too early to think about next year’s budget. Otherwise, it’s hot and miserable. No real holidays exist. Group business is down. No real point to August, so let’s just skip it.

September 2010: Catering managers around the country wonder when the 2010 holiday menus are going to be out since they’re getting “lots of calls.” They will send this request for 15 straight days. These calls will abruptly stop on September 16th. At this point, all inquiries will be to use last year’s menus at last year’s prices because “the clients really liked it.” Chefs all over the country are treated for head trauma from banging their heads against their desks.

October 2010: All catering departments announce that sales for holiday parties are drastically down. In an effort to add some spark to this trend, ads will be placed in all local media. These ads will cost a combined $500,000. Holiday party business increases by 1.75% and net additional profits will total $17.53. Sales and Marketing people deem the effort a complete success. F&B operations begin to tighten their belts since “we don’t want to blow the year in these last two months.”

November 2010: With the holidays looming, on-call servers who have bugged you for additional shifts for 42 straight weeks will suddenly fall off the face of the earth, and you are now understaffed. Sensing we’re being fiscally conservative, every piece of equipment that has been limping along for ten months will suddenly break. The banquet department will suddenly announce, “We don’t have enough plates/teaspoons/Champagne flutes,” etc. Even though you asked and were given 100% assurance that “We have you taken care of,” your purveyors will suddenly be completely out of something from your holiday menus, both this year’s and last.

December 2010: Proclaims that if 2011 is as tough as 2010, you’re going to quit the business and do something else because you’re sick of this. Have it pointed out that you said the same thing at the end of both ’08 and ’09. Consider firing the pointer-outer, have a cocktail, and realize you love it no matter what…

Happy New Year and a successful 2010 to all!

About this time each year, experts scramble to beat each other to the punch and be the first to make predictions for the coming year. Some predictions deserve to be considered, while others are just plain common knowledge and are really not newsworthy. I have always believed that doing what you do best, while offering what your market demands, is a great start. Cutting-edge, hip and trendy restaurants will always have a place in the market. They are exciting, fun, and necessary. But remember that the majority of these restaurants created their own success by doing what they knew best, not by following trends. Following trends is a tricky game; if you’re reading about it, it’s probably too late to get on board. That being said, serious cooks and chefs should always be expanding their culinary horizons and repertoires. It is necessary to continually develop if you are to reach your potential. So here are my predictions for 2010. Take them for what they’re worth and add a few of your own. That’s what this whole blogging thing is about.

Menus Shall Be Streamlined
Eliminating costly slow-sellers, high-cost, and labor-intensive items may be necessary to survive. A smaller, more manageable lineup of killer items, rather than dozens of so-so dishes, will assist in controlling costs. Use daily specials to market higher cost items, limiting the amount of inventory on hand while satisfying that creative star demand.

Menus Shall Include More Customer-Driven Options
People love to customize their menu options without feeling as if it’s a burden on the staff. You don’t want to lose business because of inflexibility in preparation. Multiple portion size options on appetizers, entrees, and desserts will encourage guests to try additional items and, as a result, help to raise check averages.

Menus Shall Be Priced Fairly and Competitively
Minimize luxury ingredients to keep costs down without altering the essence of a dish. Experiment with lower cost center-of-the-plate options, try roasts and underutilized cuts of beef, pork, and lamb. Value drives loyalty. Charge what you have to, but be fair.

Business Will Never Be Turned Away
Restaurants that once shied away from kids’ birthday parties, civic events, and SMERF (social, military, educational, religious, and fraternal) business are now thinking twice. Regardless of the price point, find a way; offer alternatives to keep menu costs down. You never know who’s in the group or what future business will book as a result of it.  Savvy operators know that a dollar profit is a dollar profit! Forget the percent game for now. You can’t pay a bill with a percent or put a percent in the bank.

Higher Quality Provisions Shall Be Used
The world is so food savvy, expectations are high, and people know quality. Questionable fish, select meats, aging produce, and cheap groceries are a fast ticket to any empty dining room. It all starts with purchasing fresh, high-quality ingredients.

Job Descriptions and Station Boundaries within the Kitchen Shall Be Eliminated
Teamwork will rule the day. Associates hesitant to cross station borders and think globally may find them out of favor and possibly out of work. Just remember that this concept will apply to all levels within the organization, even yours. Walk the talk!

Chefs Shall Rethink Menu Balance
Foods such as updated retro style cold appetizers will increase in popularity among chefs as a strategy to balance work loads and productivity in the kitchen. Creative salads, cured and smoked meats and poultry, cheese flights, raw, marinated, and smoked seafood, upscale contemporary charcuterie, and Americanized sashimi-style and cooked sushi will be offered. Chilled items allow for greater menu and labor distribution, while introducing unlimited cutting-edge and pro-health related menu possibilities.

Chefs Shall and Will Execute at the Highest Level
Flawless execution is required at any price point. You can’t fool yourself or your customers. Your restaurant is not a test kitchen. Cook what you know and are good at. No one wants to eat an experiment.

Happy Holidays!

Dear Santa,

How are you? How are the reindeer? I was going to send you an e-mail with my list, but Mom says this is more personal, and I want you to know it’s from my heart. I may suffer from unbridled holiday avarice, but at least I’m sincere. (Not that it should factor into what is delivered…but have you lost weight?)

I’ve been very good this year. Okay, good might be a stretch, at least when accompanied by “very.” Personally, I’ve tried to be a good husband, friend, and father. I think that I’ve done okay there, but you’ll have to check with the others on your list to be sure. Professionally, it’s another story.

I am, after all, in the hospitality industry, and we have had a good and bad year. I’ve been good at doing more with less: less revenue, less hours for my cooks, less of an opportunity to do many of the truly fun things in the business of Culinary Piracy such as wine dinners, educational trips, etc.

Managing in a recession, which has become squeezing orange juice from a brick, can only help make me a better manager and that has got to be considered good, I think. By the way, I know the phrase is blood from a turnip, but I don’t like turnips and seeing a bloody one would just be kind of gross.

I’ve been bad because we’ve been bad. We’re losing money every month. I may have become a savings and money management machine, but I haven’t been within spitting distance of budgeted revenue even though much of that is out of my control. I may like to thump my chest about how great I am and how delightfully evil the sales and catering department is, but as they say in Backdraft, “If you go, we go.” My ability, and the ability of my restaurant and banquet managers, to manage costs simply means we suck less. I don’t have to tell you, Mr. Kringle, that phrase is never making a t-shirt or one of those cool motivational posters. (By the way, I’m thinking of copyrighting the phrase, so keep your corporate paws off.)

So, let’s call this year a push.

Since the great gift grab is seemingly about competition with the whole naughty/nice thing, I would think I’m entitled to a few requests. Since I’m neither an executive member of the banking, home loan, automotive, or insurance industries, nor am I a member of congress, I like my chances.

I want the economy to recover. Not only for all the folks who have taken a beating over the last few years, but because my industry depends on it. People need money to spend, and we need them to travel and spend. I want us all to be able to stand proud with our products and services and not have to automatically reach into the bag of discounts with every single phone call. I promise to do solid, highly thought-out, flavorful menus with the very best ingredients I can afford. The more money I can spend, the easier that is. Tell you what…fix the economy and we’ll figure the rest of it out. No? Well alrighty then…

I want my sales team to understand that I understand RevPAR, CPOR, and how the numbers for the STAR report are derived. I started to learn all these things when my personal financial success started to be tied into GOP (for those of Chef types who don’t know these acronyms, get on board, as they are WAY important). I can read a P&L. However, the vast majority of you don’t have any idea what it costs to do what I do, nor do you have any inclination to learn about it. So Santa, I’d like for them to think of F&B as a revenue maximizer rather than a necessary evil to be processed and discounted. Protect my budget like you protect your room rate.

I want my cooks to care, and I mean really care, about the work that they do. I want them to pass over “good enough.” I want them to work clean, safe, and at the top of their game everyday. I want them to label and date as a rule without me telling them to do it, to rotate their product faithfully, and to not play the oldest game in the book of day shift versus night shift. I know much of all that is my responsibility, but I can’t teach “want to.”

I wouldn’t mind a Red Rider BB gun at the risk of shooting my eye out.

I want my purveyors to continue to send me push lists so I can uncover hidden gems in the products they’re trying to get rid of. Pork shanks for $1.99 a pound? Why, yes, I’ll have some. I want them to realize I do my best to NOT run them around due to my lack of organization. I also want them to realize that in the big scheme of things, they work for me. When I call, you answer the phone. When I say “I need,” you go and get. I’m fine with you winning your sales incentive trip to Greece on my business…congratulations, you’ve earned it…but in knowing that I’ll not be nickel and dimed.

I want peace on earth and goodwill toward men. Run that by your legal department and see what they think. Generally, the cost on both is fairly small but the buy-in is pretty steep.

I’d like all the talented F&B folks who got bumped, displaced, laid off, canned, or cast out as a cost-cutting measure to be able to get back into the industry they love. We need their talent and passion in our industry. Also, my jolly fat man, for those who were pushed out not only as a cost savings but because it was a good excuse to cut ties with the untalented and uninspired, I’d like for them to keep walking and not take up our time, energy, and space anymore.

So, Santa, there it is. Do whatever you can for me and my industry…lots of us are really counting on it. If none of this is possible, do you think we could just settle on everyone being happy and healthy and have an elf scare me up a cocktail?

Stop in if you’re in the area, I’ll get you a good room rate. Send my love to the missus. Oh by the way…Happy Holidays.

Chef

My team is responsible for the procurement of many items at the hotel. When people hear the terms “Purchasing,” “Procurement,” and “Buyer,” they tend to think of food and beverage purchases. Some people are surprised when they learn that we also procure medical supplies, salon equipment, beauty supplies, health gear, etc. The majority of our items come through traditional procurement distribution channels. Other items are not always available through the traditional channels so we must look elsewhere. One of these avenues is online. I used the term web (as in the World Wide Web) above. It seemed to fit the blog title, but now I’ve dated myself. Maybe for my next blog I will talk about purchasing rotary phones?

From trinkets to Twinkies, Snickers to Snuggies (even the Leopard Skin Snuggies), the web has it all. On any given day, our team could be online multiple times purchasing needed items. Typically, online purchases are for unique and/or retail-type items. Many people make general assumptions about online purchases. Most may be true but not always:

Assumption: You can’t find deals online.
Reality: Not always true. We purchase flat screen TVs online. Not only can you find good pricing online, but some companies already have shipping built into the price. Companies from certain states do not charge tax when shipping to other states. Once you start purchasing a few televisions, the savings can add up.

Assumption: We pay the same price online as anyone ordering the same product from their home.
Reality: Again, not always true. Didn’t you see some of my previous blog posts? Purchasing Power = Purchasing Power. If your operation is purchasing multiple units, then price breaks are typically built in. Also, if you call the online company, they are sometimes willing to give you additional discounts to boot.

Assumption: You cannot find quality products online.
Reality: What is it with all of these assumptions? Just hold on a second, my friend. A number of manufacturers that produce products for wholesale distribution channels also produce products for retail distribution channels. While there are plenty of examples of residential grade products online, there are also plenty of commercial grade options available. Some manufacturers make identical items. In some cases, one item just happens to get better looking paint and a pretty label so they can sell it through retail channels.

Assumption: When I buy products online, they are either discontinued or become obsolete.
Reality: I should have quit while I was ahead. I’m sorry to say that this assumption and reality are typically the same. Online sites are retail driven. This means that product availability changes with the seasons. A style of shirt you purchased in the spring will probably be unavailable in the fall. This is a battle we deal with constantly since our outlets love to purchase retail apparel for their uniforms. A computer you purchased this year has probably been replaced by a newer version (or two) the following year.

In summary, there are deals to be found for your operations on the web, so use it as a tool in your arsenal when shopping for needed items.

Sustainability, in a broad sense, is the capacity to endure; biological systems remaining productive over time. Sustainability also means long-term maintenance of well-being of the natural world and responsible use of all natural resources. The sustainability movement focuses on organic foods, which are defined as those produced without synthetic pesticides, artificial fertilizers, hormones, antibiotics, or genetic modification.

We recently saw yet another outbreak of E. Coli affecting the East Coast, causing two fatalities and sickening at least 28 others. The subsequent recall involved more than 500,000 pounds of ground beef distributed in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. The fact that this particular processing plant had three recalls since 2007 is just another indicator of how flawed our system currently is. Having a compelling desire to share some facts with my peers and the readers of this blog, I would like to assess some of the challenges our dysfunctional food chain faces:

Global Issues
One billion people worldwide do not have secure access to food, including 36 million in the U.S. National and international food and agricultural policies have helped to create the global food crisis but can also help to fix the system.

Health Issues

• 76 million Americans are sickened, 325,000 are hospitalized and 5,000 die each year because of foodborne illnesses, according to the CDC.

• RBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone) is a genetically engineered hormone injected into dairy cows to make them produce more milk. Many countries have banned the use of RBGH, including Canada and the European Union, but not the United States, where it is used extensively.
• Pesticide concentrations in dust collected from farm workers’ homes were five times higher than those in non-farm workers’ homes.
• The USDA estimates that between 1970 and 2000, the average daily calorie intake in the U.S. increased by 24.5%, or about 530 calories.
• Six hormones are implanted in beef cattle for no other reason than to make the cows grow faster so they can be sold sooner.
• 90% of all U.S. feedlot cattle are hormone implanted.
• Human deaths related to poor diet and physical inactivity is second only to tobacco as the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S.
• One-third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. High-calorie, sugar-laden processed foods coupled with our sedentary lifestyles are growing our waistlines and contributing to serious health issues such as diabetes, heart ailments, and cancers. Kids should be served healthy meals, not soda and junk food.

Factory Farming
Virtually all the meat, eggs, and dairy products you find in the supermarket come from animals raised in confinement in large facilities called CAFOs, Confined Animal Feeding Operations. These highly mechanized operations provide a year-round supply of food at a reasonable price. Although the food is cheap and convenient, there is growing recognition that factory farming creates a host of problems, including animal stress and abuse, pollution, unnecessary use of hormones, antibiotics, and other drugs, as well as the loss of small family farms, and, last but not least, food with lower nutritional value.

Unnatural Diets
Animals raised in factory farms are given diets designed to boost their productivity and lower costs. The main ingredients are genetically modified grain and soy that are kept at artificially low prices by government subsidies. To further cut costs, the feed may also contain “by-product feedstuff” such as municipal garbage, stale pastry, chicken feathers, and candy. Until 1997, U.S. cattle were also being fed meat that had been trimmed from other cattle, in effect turning herbivores into carnivores. This unnatural practice is believed to be the underlying cause of BSE or “mad cow disease.”

Animal Stress
Ruminants are designed to eat fibrous grasses, plants, and shrubs—not starchy, low-fiber grain. When they are switched from pasture to grain, they can become afflicted with a number of disorders, including a common but painful condition called subacute acidosis. Cattle with subacute acidosis kick at their bellies, go off their feed, and eat dirt. To prevent more serious reactions, the animals are given chemical additives and antibiotics. When medications are overused in the feedlots, bacteria become resistant to them. When people become infected with these new, disease-resistant bacteria (i.e., E. Coli outbreak), there are fewer medications available to treat them.

Caged Animals
Most of the nation’s chickens, turkeys, and pigs are also being raised in confinement. They suffer an even worse fate than the grazing animals. Tightly packed into cages, sheds, or pens, they cannot practice their normal behaviors, such as rooting, grazing, and roosting. Laying hens are crowded into cages that are so small that there is not enough room for all of the birds to sit down at one time. They cannot escape the stench of their own manure. Meat and eggs from these animals are lower in a number of key vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids.

Environmental Issues

• 1,500 miles: The distance average food product travels to get to your grocery store.

• 30,800 tons: The amount of greenhouse gas emissions resulting every year from transporting food.
• 6% of U.S. farms generate 75% of all commercial agricultural production.
• In 2007, 63% of hens sold for egg production and 67% of chickens sold for meat production were raised on farms that managed more than 100,000 birds.
• In 2007, 87% of all hogs sold in the U.S. were raised on farms that managed more than 5,000 hogs.
• $8 billion: Total agriculture subsidies in 2007.
• 10% of eligible farms received 60% of all farm subsidies that same year.
• The fast food industry is one of the driving forces behind the factory farm system. In an effort to sell food as cheaply as possible, animals are fed the wrong types of feed, injected with hormones, fed heavy metals, and pumped full of antibiotics.
• When animals are raised in feedlots or cages, they deposit large amounts of manure in a small amount of space. The manure must be collected and transported away from the area, an expensive proposition. To cut costs, it is dumped as close to the feedlot as possible. As a result, the surrounding soil is overloaded with nutrients, which can cause ground and water pollution. When animals are raised outdoors on pasture, their manure is spread over a wide area of land, making it a welcome source of organic fertilizer, not a waste management problem.
• $34.7 billion: The annual cost of environmental damage caused by U.S. industrial farming.
• 3,000 acres of productive farmland are lost to development each day in the U.S.
• Millions of gallons of untreated manure are held in open-air pits and pollute the surrounding air, land, and water.
• 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and contaminated groundwater in at least 17 states have been polluted by cattle waste.

Pesticides
Cancers, autism, and neurological disorders are associated with the use of pesticides, especially among farm workers and their communities. What pesticides are in your food?

Back to Pasture
Since the late 1990s, a growing number of ranchers have stopped sending their animals to the feedlots to be fattened on grain, soy, and other supplements. Instead, they are keeping their animals home on the range where they forage on pasture, their native diet. These new-age ranchers do not treat their livestock with hormones or feed them growth-promoting additives. As a result, the animals grow at a natural pace. For these reasons and more, grass-fed animals live low-stress lives and are so healthy there is no reason to treat them with antibiotics or other drugs.

Grass Farming
Raising animals on pasture requires more knowledge and skill than sending them to a feedlot. For example, in order for grass-fed beef to be succulent and tender, the cattle need to forage on high-quality grasses and legumes, especially in the months prior to slaughter. This nutritious and natural diet requires healthy soil and careful pasture management so that the plants are maintained at an optimal stage of growth. Because high-quality pasture is the key to high-quality animal products, many pasture-based ranchers refer to themselves as “grass farmers” rather than “ranchers.” They raise great grass; the animals do all the rest.

Better Nutrition
A major benefit of raising animals on pasture is that their products are healthier for you. Compared with feedlot meat, meat from grass-fed beef, bison, lamb, and goats has less total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories. It also has more vitamin E, beta-carotene, vitamin C, and a number of health-promoting fats, including omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid or CLA.

When you choose to eat meat, eggs, and dairy products from animals raised on pasture, you are improving the welfare of the animals, helping to put an end to environmental degradation, helping small-scale ranchers and farmers make a living from the land, helping to sustain rural communities, and giving your family the healthiest possible food. It’s a win-win-win-win situation.

I recently watched Food, Inc., a sobering, but well-done documentary exposing the activities of nation’s food industry, the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the public with the consent of USDA and FDA. Our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers, and our own environment.

The issues are many, and the stakes are high. There is no single solution for this complex issue, and no quick fix for a system with its root cause going back to the policies of the 1970s. The public not only deserves better in the form of a food chain with transparency and integrity, we owe it to our children to leave them a better place.

We, as chefs and professionals, can contribute greatly, I feel we have an obligation not only to educate our employees, but our guests as well, tackling the issues at stake, getting involved, and being part of the solution.

VOTE WITH YOUR FORK! Incorporate more local, sustainable foods at your business.

URGE your suppliers to support you in sourcing and obtaining locally grown, sustainably raised meat and vegetables from independent family farmers.

EDUCATE your family, friends, neighbors, schools, and community! Find more info at www.SustainableTable.org.

“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” ~J.A. Brillat-Savarin, 1755-1826

At a recent meeting, one of our community leaders quoted: “The main thing is to know the main thing. And to keep the main thing, the main thing.”

At first I was taken aback. Then I thought about the meaning of this quote. What is the main thing for me today?

For me as an Executive Chef, it is to develop my people, provide cutting-edge food to our guests, and treat everyone with respect while achieving business results as outlined in our operating budget. My question to myself regarding all of this is, How do I keep my chefs aligned with my main thin—get them to realize that our “main things” are the same?

We just had our weekly leadership meeting, reviewing the past year’s business results in detail. Compared with the industry overall, we feel that we did rather well, with more guests over the prior year but per cap revenue down. We have been recognized repeatedly in the media over the past year for food and beverage, including the level of service and quality of food. We are expanding our catering operation and are very passionate about our training and development programs.

With the recession dragging on and our new budget on hand, however, we face operational challenges in order to meet our owner’s new expectations. We also spent a good portion of the time discussing employee morale. How can we as managers recognize great performance at the heels of reduced benefits, which affect everyone? How can we provide the team with tools to take care of our guests with a training budget reduced to barely provide for certification related topics such as ServSafe? How can we recognize individuals and teams for great achievements while there are neither merit increases nor incentives this year?

As I mentioned earlier, we feel we have done better than many other establishments in the industry and in the region. Many restaurants closed over the last year and good people lost their jobs. Not so at our casino. Just in the past couple of weeks, a local department store announced the closing of one of their distribution centers, and a nearby gaming facility is about to close its doors too. In light of news like this, I appreciate the fact that our company continues to make job preservation its priority. No layoffs, increased insurance premiums, and no more free employee meals is a small price to pay as I see it.

So how do we maintain good employee morale, keeping the team engaged with locked-on service? Performance reviews continue to be a critical aspect for feedback, coaching, and development of the team members. Positive reinforcement—rewarding behavior you want repeated—works well if done systematically and consistently. As many studies indicate, employees find personal recognition more motivating than financial rewards. The key is to know your employees and know what makes them tick.

For younger professionals, this is probably the first time they have faced economic challenges like this, for others, like myself, we have seen previous recessions through and learned from them. We all know that this recession will end, but when we get out of it depends on the region and industry as well. Yes, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

“The main thing is to know the main thing. And to keep the main thing, the main thing.”