Once in the land of mass produced, high calorie foods, vegetarians were considered, well, just strange and marginal. But no longer.
Today veggies are seen as good and normal - part of an informed lifestyle choice. We should, of course, thank such culinary leaders as Alice Waters and Michelle Obama, who among others have helped to change the way we think about food.
As of last weekend, we can also thank Justin Timberlake and the creative team at Saturday Night Live who helped their millions of viewers to laugh and so take a trip to that once forbidden destination - Veganville.
Chefs will surely cheer (and so will the diners' doctors) - because now we can all "live longer and prosper".
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013
Why recycle? It's a simple question but one seldom asked. Recycling takes time and effort. Because of the resulting changes in schedules and additional duties, it may seem yet another burden in an already very busy day.
And isn't it the 'politically correct' thing to do? Maybe, but there is a larger reason that every hotel should recycle - life matters. Recycling shows an active and respectful engagement in the lives around us and no successful hotel stands in isolation from that experience.
Recycling enables that involvement to be a creative caring one, often for far less effort than one might think. Take for example the outstanding work of the Clean the World Program.
They will accept your used guest soaps, that many properties often throw away, clean and recycle them into new sanitary bars to those without something as simple as soap throughout the world.
Does it make a difference? Watch this video and decide for yourself. You can make a child laugh and live thousands of miles from your property by merely tossing those used soap bars into a recycling ben instead of the trash.
We all can make a difference - to show that it is people that are at the heart of our industry. Profit matters yes, of course, because that profit enables motion and extension, but towards what matters. And what matters? Not simply more money but a better world.
If we achieve that then our hearts (and hands) will sparkle brightly clean at the end of each and every day and we can be truly proud of what we do.
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2012
