'Simple Food, Healthy Eating' is Theme of World Chef Culinary Conference Set for June 10-15 at UMass Amherst

AMHERST, Mass. – Chefs, college and university food service managers and representatives of major food manufacturers from across the United States and Canada are expected at the 18th Annual Tastes of the World Chef Culinary Conference from June 10-15 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Picking up where they left off last year, the culinary experts will focus on the theme “Simple Food, Healthy Eating, Part 2,” according to Ken Toong, executive director of Auxiliary Enterprises at UMass Amherst and host of the conference.

“We will continue to explore many simple to prepare and casual dishes, that have plenty of flavor and a reverence for incorporating locally produced, seasonal ingredients, he says. “Our students are looking for simple food that not only tastes good but is good for them.”

This year’s conference will featurenationally renowned chef Roy Choi, creator of the famed Kogi BBQ food trucks, who will share what’s next in mobile cuisine.

“We think the food truck has become a major trend on campuses with food that is simple, freshly prepared, using local ingredients and can be produced with health in mind, Toong says. “We want food to be a vehicle that creates excitement, builds community and offers great value as well. Our Baby Berk food truck is a major hit on our campus and it has become so popular that we are in the process of purchasing a second vehicle.”

The conference will also include plenary sessions by some of the nation’s leading experts and innovators in the field, as well as numerous presentations and workshops by a number of accomplished chefs such as Jet Tila of the Food Network and faculty from Johnson and Wales University and The Culinary Institute of America.

The conference will culminate with the popular American Culinary Federation-sanctioned team competition on Friday, June 15.

Events will be held in the Campus Center and at Berkshire Dining Commons.

Details of the conference can be found atwww.umassdining.com/chefconference/2012/