NEWS BITES

Chef Kevin Storm Named Manager of ACF Culinary Team USA

Chef J. Kevin Storm, CEC, CCA, AAC, executive chef, Persimmon Woods Golf Club in Weldon Spring, Missouri, has been named the manager of ACF Culinary Team USA. Chef Storm will be responsible for overseeing the 2024 team as it partakes in various international competitions. Every four years, the best chefs from around the world come together at Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung (IKA) in Germany, where they compete to win gold, silver and bronze medals in a variety of categories.

ACF Awards Winners of NASA HUNCH Culinary Challenge

ACF awarded the winning team of NASA’s HUNCH (High School Students United with NASA to Create Hardware) Culinary Challenge with $2,000 in scholarship funds. The four-member team from Hewitt-Trussville High School in Trussville, Alabama, will also receive complimentary access to ACF’s Virtual Convention, Aug. 3-5, as well free access to the ACF Online Learning center and the opportunity to test for their ACF Certificate of Culinary Essentials with all costs waived. The winning dish, prepared by Madeline Curd, Lucy Prince, Kaylie Love and Abigail Mitchell, was Moroccan chicken tagine, part of an “ethnic” theme that drew many heirloom family recipe submissions, and will be sent to the International Space Station at a later date. Student participants also had to research food science and prepare a report about how their dish follows strict nutritional guidelines because of the astronauts’ experience in microgravity. In addition to the winning team, the 2nd- and 3rd-place teams from Secchia Institute for Culinary Education in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Bridging Communities Technical Center in Newcant, Virginia, respectively, will receive complementary access to the ACF virtual convention, Online Learning Center and certification testing opportunities. To read more about the HUNCH program and modifications made this year because of COVID-19, visit wearechefs.com

ACF-Accredited School Turns Closed Kitchen into Soup Kitchen

Chef-Instructors at Hudson County Community College Culinary Arts Institute News in Jersey City, New Jersey, this summer used their kitchen—closed during the coronavirus pandemic—to prepare more than 900 meals for customers of Let’s Celebrate Food Pantry and Square Meal Community Kitchen, a non-profit organization that feeds the homeless in the area through soup kitchens and food pantries. The CAI is accredited by the American Culinary Federation Accrediting Commission, and it is also accredited by the American Culinary Federation Educational Foundation. For a full list of ACF accredited schools, visit https://www.acfchefs.org/ACF/ Education/ACF/Education/.

Free ACF Certificate of Culinary Essentials Exam for Students

In celebration of the Class of 2020, ACF is offering all culinary students the opportunity to take the ACF Certificate of Culinary Essentials exam for free. This certificate demonstrates proficiency in industry-standard competencies and is the first step towards earning ACF certification. Access the exam from the ACF Online Learning Center at acfchefs.org and use code ACF2020STU. Valid through August 31.

Chapter News

ACF West Palm Beach

ACF West Palm Beach chapter donated $5,000 to The Lord’s Place, a supportive housing and social impact agency assisting the homeless and others in need. Chef Robert Coleman, the center’s director of food service, has been busy during the pandemic feeding residents and others from the community while maintaining employment and training for his staff, which includes formerly homeless men and women as well as those who have been incarcerated or face other barriers to employment. The team has been preparing hot meals to-go as well as bags of groceries, including toilet paper and hard-tofind meats, out of The Lord’s Place Joshua Catering Company kitchen for pickup at Café Joshua, the onsite café for the homeless. “We haven’t had to furlough anyone; we’re finding plenty of work for everyone to do,” said Coleman. “At the same time, to be safe, we are maintaining social distancing and rotating crews so not everyone is working at the same time, and everyone is wearing masks, gloves and hair coverings.”

The ACF Professional Chefs Association of South Jersey (ACF PCASJ), ACF New York and ACF Long Island Chapters (ACFLI)

ACF PCASJ, ACF New York and ACFLI members picked up 75 cases of pizza doughs, bread and breadsticks, cookies and toppings donated by Rich’s Foodservice at Stockton University through Chartwells, and then delivered the food to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission and the Salvation Army. At press time, the ACFLI—in coordination with other regional ACF chapters and at least 22 non-profits and institutions of higher education—had cooked and deliver more than 115,000 pounds of food to feed food-insecure families. In all, Rich’s Foodservice delivered more than 96,450 pounds of product for the cause. Oumph USA and Rivera Produce donated cases of plant-based proteins and produce and Always Fast Freight donated the freight used for shipping the product. Kraft Heinz Oscar Mayer, Tyson, Zyn and CulinArt Group also donated product. “I was just praying this morning for food to fill these shelves, refrigerators, and help us be more capable to feed the community,” said Pastor Mike Caiazzo, youth director at Lighthouse Mission, a recipient of the donations delivered by ACF members. Vivian Hart, president of the board of directors, Pronto Long Island, said, “We can't thank you enough for helping our families in need during this crisis. On behalf of the

Eastern Iowa ACF Chapter

entire Pronto community please stay well and know that your generosity and continued support is directly impacting those who need help the most.”

ACF Chef Las Vegas

ACF Chefs Las Vegas President Chef Justin Franco said thanks to the collected efforts of local ACF members and other chefs, brokers, vendors and volunteers in the community, #Chefs4Vegas and we had fed more than 1,000 families at press time. Franco, the executive banquet chef for Tropicana Casino Hotel Resort Las Vegas, was contacted by vendors looking to move extra product. “We set up in a dirt lot, bagged everything up and set the food in the back of people’s cars as they drove through,” said Chef Franco. “We were blown away by the amount of people we helped and by all the support from our vendors and volunteers. We worked on extreme short notice and the turnout was unbelievable. We try to assemble the bags so there is something for breakfast, lunch and dinner—we’re not just throwing in a bag of potato chips and container of fruit. We don’t cook anything, but received 10-pound cases of pre-cooked pulled pork, and 95 percent of the food is ready-to-serve or can be easily heated up in the oven,” As the program has grown, Chef Franco said the group was gearing up to move production to one of the supplier kitchens—all the while still wearing masks and gloves.

Chapter Vice President Robert Newell, CEC, executive chef at the Bridge View Center in Ottumwa, Iowa, reached out to Ottumwa Superintendent Nicole Kooiker when schools closed to offer to prepare meals for the children using his kitchen. Kooiker directed him to the local YMCA, which helped coordinate a food distribution program for children and young adults ages 2-18. With a convention center kitchen four or five times the size of that at the YMCA, Chef Newell was able to produce up to 2,000 meals (versus the YMCA’s existing summer program, which produces about 150 to 200 meals) in the form of sack lunches with a sandwich, fruit and whole grain, while still adhering to the school’s nutritional guidelines. He even drew a smiley face on one of the bags because the child requested a “happy meal.” Chef Newell was able to start adding some reheat-able meals like Sloppy Joe’s and chicken parmesan with pasta thanks to donations from a pork producer and other vendors, and by buying product through his connections. One week, he sent out banana bread kits using donated bananas from a local food bank, along with the dry ingredients and a recipe. “The kids all miss their teachers and friends so helping them in this way feels good and makes all the hard work worth it,” he said. “During this pandemic I have been impressed with how many people have been able to step up and volunteer their time, energy and resources to help put a program like this together and keep it together.”