A collegiate culinary-arts program in South Florida earns top honors for exemplary practices in—and innovative teaching of—ecological sustainability.
Kendall College and the Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAFÉ) today presented the 2014 CAFÉ/Kendall College Green Award to Miami Culinary Institute (MCI) in Miami, Fla., at CAFÉ’s 10th-anniversary national Leadership Conference for foodservice educators, held in metro Salt Lake City.
Karin J. Davis, a chef-instructor and registered sanitarian at Kendall College’s School of Culinary Arts in Chicago, presented the award, which was accepted by Chef Ana Plana, an adjunct culinary instructor at MCI, at CAFÉ’s general-session breakfast at Salt Lake Community College’s Miller Campus in Sandy, Utah.
According to Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE, HAAC, vice president of the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts and the Laureate International Universities Center of Excellence in Culinary Arts, who oversees evaluation of entries for the annual CAFÉ/Kendall College Green Award, MCI, although a relatively new program, stood out among this year’s entries.
“MCI blends technology, sustainability and culinary education to set the pulse of Miami’s cuisine and food culture,” Koetke says. “The eight-story institute is an architectural and engineering marvel that focuses on exceptional space utilization and generating a limited carbon footprint. Meanwhile, students are offered a curriculum steeped in green-sustainable food and energy technologies.”
Opening its doors in the spring of 2011 at Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus in the heart of downtown Miami, MCI turned up the heat in the autumn that year with the debut of its rooftop restaurant, Tuyo, touted as a fusion of New World cuisines. The opening menu was engineered by award-winning South Florida chef Norman Van Aken, officially recognized as one of the “Founders of the New American Cuisine.” “Tuyo is the crown jewel sitting atop the Miami Culinary Institute,” Koetke says. “It infuses its trailblazing menu with MCI’s approach to the culinary arts, setting the table for food-culture innovation by focusing on environmentally sound practices and drawing upon foods grown locally and in the institute’s organic garden.”
As 2014 recipient of the Green Award, Miami Culinary Institute received a $1,000 grant, an engraved plaque and a complimentary full registration for an MCI representative to attend CAFÉ’s Leadership Conference.
The annual CAFÉ/Kendall College Green Award, sponsored by Kendall College, is the first national award to recognize secondary and postsecondary culinary-arts and baking/pastry programs for their commitment to sustainability and teaching its tenets. The objective of the award is to build the body of sustainability resources in foodservice education. Selection criteria are based on the integration of sustainability into educational programs and/or operations.
Miami Culinary Institute joins previous Green Award recipients Cascade Culinary Institute, Bend, Ore., and Metro Tech High School, Phoenix (2013); Seattle Culinary Academy (2012); Colorado State University’s hospitality-management program (2011); Technology Center of DuPage (2010), Addison, Ill.; and Johnson & Wales University’s Charlotte, N.C., campus (2009).
About the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts:
Kendall College, founded in 1934, is located in Chicago and is a member of the Laureate International Universities network. Kendall offers undergraduate degrees in business, culinary arts, early childhood education and hospitality management to a diverse and passionate community of more than 1,650 students. The curriculum combines strong academics with practical experience and international educational opportunities that help give students in business, hospitality and culinary arts programs the skills and expertise to be leaders in their professions. Kendall College was ranked the number one program in Chicago for preparing students for careers in hospitality management and culinary arts in a survey of management at Chicago’s leading hotels and Michelin Guide restaurants (TNS Global – 2013 Survey). The American Culinary Federation Education Foundation Accrediting Commission has accredited the Culinary Arts associate program since 1988 and the Baking and Pastry associate program since 2008. Kendall College is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), www.ncahlc.org; 312-263-0456. For more information, visit www.Kendall.edu.
About the Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAFÉ):
Founded in 2002, CAFÉ links the foodservice classroom to the foodservice industry to provide needed resources to educators so that they may more successfully train students for vibrant, fulfilling careers in the ever-evolving foodservice industry. Through its Web portal, online magazine “The Gold Medal Classroom” and annual Leadership Conference, as well as its series of regional skills workshops nationwide, CAFÉ is dedicated to addressing the unique needs of highly specialized professionals who wear two hats as culinarians and teachers. For more information, visit www.CafeMeetingPlace.com.
