Experts in Action

    • Hess
    • Mary Abbott Hess
    • Kimbrough
    • Mary Kimbrough
    • Powers
    • Catharine Powers

What's New

 

Mary Abbott Hess honored with prestigious Leadership Award

On October 28, 2009 the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago honored Mary Abbott Hess with its prestigious Leadership Award for her work with the McCormick Boys & Girls Club. Over the past year, Mary has piloted a health and nutrition program by forging a partnership between the McCormick Club and the Chicago chapter of Le Dames Escoffier. The program sponsors the McCormick garden which is planted, maintained, and harvested by Club members. Youth also have the opportunity to participate in hands-on cooking demonstration. Countless children have benefited through the kind works and deeds of Mary and she exemplies how one person can make a difference in the lives of many.

Mary Kimbrough talks at the Texas Restaurant Association Southwest Foodservice Expo

Mary Kimbrough moderated a session on Heath Trends in Dining Out at the Texas Restaurant Association Southwest Foodservice Expo on Sunday June 28, 2009. Panel members were John Brancato Owner Punte-Brancato Enterprises, Liz Baron, Owner Blue Mesa Grill and Chef Alain Braux from the Peoples Pharmacy.

Cooks for Kids wins a Clarion Award for its second season

Educational, Informational or Training Video Production - Longer than 15 minutes
National Food Service Management Institute’s Cooks for Kids, 2008 Episode 5
Running Pony Productions
National Food Service Management Institute

Food Roots organized farm tour for EatGreenDFW.com

July 11, 2009- Food Roots the culinary tourism company organized a farm tour for EatGreenDFW.com that showcased three farmers who are dedicated to bringing sustainable grown produce, meat and dairy products to the community using organic and natural methods.

The one-day tour visited three family-owned and operated farms south of Dallas--JuHa Ranch, Oak Grove Farms and Garden Harvests.

“These three farms demonstrate the diversity of small North Texas Agriculture,” explained Food Roots co owner Mary Kimbrough. “At each stop tour participants spent an hour or more on an interactive tour with the owner of the farm and had an opportunity to buy directly from them.”

JuHa Ranch, which is near Barry, is owned and operated by Harry Butaud, Judi Glasgow-Butaud and Harry’s son Heath Butaud. They raise their animals without hormones or antibiotics and use controlled grazing to develop native grasslands and pastures and to conserve and develop wildlife habitat.

Oak Grove Farms, a Certified Naturally Grown Farm which is near Ennis, is owned by Tommy and Kristi Copeland who have been raising vegetables for several years now. The Copelands are currently growing tomatoes, greens and other vegetables including Mirai, an American variety of super sweet quick cooking corn that is not widely available.

Garden Harvests is a large roadside vegetable garden and farm stand, created by Fina Longoria-Johnson, a former teacher who uses Garden Harvests as her classroom to educate her customers about fresh healthy food.

The day-long bus included lunch at the Brown Street Café and Kolache Depot in Ennis.

Culinary Nutrition Associates' partners contribute a chapter for The Competitive Edge

CNA partners wrote a chapter, Marketing Healthy Food and the Food Industry, for the 3rd edition of The Competitive Edge, edited by noted marketer Kathy King and published by Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. This resource provides essential information to help dietitians prepare for the future. More than 45 noted practitioners have contributed their expertise, giving dietetics professionals information, strategies, and tools to achieve professional success. This new edition is totally updated with new trends chapters, plus new chapters on customer service, marketing food and food services, selling, marketing sports dietetics and entering the complementary nutrition market, marketing a Website, selling a newspaper column, and becoming a consultant.

Mary Kimbrough wrote an article for the IACP Culinary Tourism Committee Newsletter

Summer, 2009
Downtown Dallas Dairy: The Urban Cow Tour

Our latest contribution to professional culinary education published in Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Journal of the American Dietetic Association
September 2008, Vol. 108, No. 9

TOPICS OF PROFESSIONAL INTEREST
How Accurate are Your Nutrient Calculations? Why Culinary Expertise Makes a Difference
Catharine H. Powers, MS, RD; Mary Abbott Hess, MS, RD, FADA; Mary Kimbrough, RD

Cathy Powers wrote an article for American Profile

American Profile
August 10 - 16, 2008

Veggie U - An Ohio farm family touts the wonders of vegetables
Catharine H. Powers, MS, RD

Cathy Powers is working with the National Food Service Management Institute to develop training programs for the child nutrition market.

Cooks for Kids, a series of nine 30 minute training programs, to showcase the fact that children should have access to healthy food and be able to make healthy food choices wherever they are – at home, in school and out in the community. Reversing the childhood obesity epidemic is a shared responsibility. It will take the commitment of parents, the foodservice industry, the media, and schools working together to reverse the childhood obesity trend. This series takes you to restaurants, schools, and homes to show you how cooks use tested techniques of preparing and serving healthful, appealing foods to kids. Cooks for Kids is a forum to demonstrate how we can work together. Each episode focuses on healthful food and cooking techniques at school but also in restaurants and homes. This integrated look at the child’s total food experience is what makes Cooks for Kids unique.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines is revising their culinary program with the Vitality Program and partner Mary Kimbrough is providing nutrition consulting.

Vitality highlights healthful options for every guest; thereby encouraging and educating guests towards achieving wellness in mind, body and spirit. The theme of healthful eating is positive, exciting, authentic, fresh, and will energize the guest for their next activity.

DFW Airport to get additional foodservice outlets with a focus on providing healthful dining options to airport travelers.

Venturas Puente,Inc is enhancing their foodservice portfolio at DFW Airport with some healthful dining options in their newest food service outlets scheduled to open in the fall of 2008. Partner Mary Kimbrough has been engaged by Puente- Brancato executive team to provide culinary nutrition expertise in their effort to provide healthful options on the menu and menu boards for airline travelers. Two of their food and beverage operations, Urban Taco and UFOOD Grill will deliver many options for eating for health and wellness by the airport customers.

Kimbrough's Texas Culinary Tour Company Food Roots “Enjoying the Fruits of their Labor Tour”

On June 21,2008 Food Roots guests visited The Greer Farm, Efurd Orchard farm stand and Los Pinos Ranch Vineyards and Winery to share the fruits of the labor of these Northeast Texas farmers, ranchers and winemakers. This tour featured a Texas farm to table mid-day meal with local farm produce and berries fresh from the patch, the opportunity to pick you own blackberries and blueberries Greer Farm, a visit to a traditional east Texas farmstand/peach orchard Efurd Orchard farm stand and a tour and tasting at a local winery Los Pinos Ranch Vineyards.

Kimbrough presented The Secret Ingredient: The Food Savvy Dietitian at the Arizona Dietetic Association in June 2008.

What is the recipe for success and what is that secret ingredient at award-winning hospitals foodservice, top-ranked supermarkets, innovative restaurants, and profitable food companies? The food industry has found the culinary-savvy dietitian to be the key to success. Consumers are hungry for healthy foods that taste great and every corner of the food industry is struggling to respond for this increased demand. This session explores how dietetic professionals can expand their scope of practice to become the food AND nutrition expert.

McCormick Boys & Girls Club has a new garden to teach inner-city children about healthful food.

Mary Abbott Hess is working with the Robert R. McCormick Boys and Girls Club of Chicago to create a food, nutrition and gardening program. This program uses The Growing Connection, an international program that uses gardening to teach children about nature and healthful foods. An herb garden was planted in August 2008 and the program for the remainder of 2008 will include trips to orchards and farms, comparative tastings and some cooking classes

Chicago’s most acclaimed chefs provide vital information to food industry.

Several James Beard award winners and nominees have been invited to provide feedback on new products to industry. Mary Abbott Hess has used her extensive contacts within the community of chefs to assist food manufacturers create effective marketing plans for new product introductions to upscale chefs and restaurants based on feedback provided by recognized chef leaders.

Cathy Powers was the keynote speaker at the Nevada Dietetic Association’s Annual Meeting on April 25, 2008.

Cathy Powers was the keynote speaker at the Nevada Dietetic Association’s Annual Meeting on April 25, 2008. She presented Knives, Stones and Steels : Sharpening Your Food and Nutrition Practice. Staying up-to-date with food and nutrition trends is essential and translating these trends into your nutrition practice is critical. This session provided an overview of the current food trends and discussed the impact they have on nutrition practice.

Mary Kimbrough presented Catering to Health Conscious Guests at the 2008 catersource Conference & Tradeshow and Event Solutions Idea Factory on February 25, 2008 at the Las Vegas Hilton & Convention Center.

She spoke on meeting the needs of today’s corporate and social catering clients who are asking for food that is fresh and healthful as well as delicious and beautifully presented. As more customers request foods suitable for special nutrition concerns and for healthful eating, every caterer needs an array of options for moderating fat, calories and sodium and options for foods that can boost the nutritional quality of your menu offering.

Mary Abbott Hess was keynote speaker at the Women's Health Expo in Kingston, NY on May 4, 2007.

SuperMarketing: Best Foods For Family Health merged the information from her books, The Supermarket Guide and Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Healthful Eating. Hess gave 50 tips for choosing the very best foods in each aisle of the grocery store. She spoke about what to look for on food labels, ingredients for a healthful kitchen and maximizing nutrition for your food dollar. Latest nutrition guidance was translated into food choices that you can buy and serve to promote the health of everyone who eats at your family table.

Food Roots and The American Institute of Wine & Food Weekend Tour of Texas Wineries in Beautiful Fredericksburg Texas

March 2 thru March 4, 2007 members of the Dallas Chapter of AIWF with Food Roots participated in a weekend of winery tours, wine tastings and Texas Hill Country dining in Fredericksburg, Texas. Everyone relaxed in the comfortable, casual pace of Fredericksburg with its German charm and Texas hospitality.

Tour hosts Mary Kimbrough and Mark Haley of Food Roots took their guests to some intimate small-production wineries where they meet and talked with the winemakers. And, of course we experienced the great food and wine from the Hill Country at August E and Natural Palate Cooking School.