What's New in Rice Archive
2010 IACP Award & James Beard Event
2010 IACP "Award of Excellence" Winner—U.S. Rice in the Culinary Classroom!
USA Rice Federation's education guide—U.S. Rice in the Culinary Classroom: The Complete Guide for Food Educators and Professionals was chosen as the winner of the 2010 IACP "Award of Excellence" for best education materials of the year. Equipped with a complete manual and classroom PowerPoint presentations on DVD with culinary video demonstrations, the tool is designed to include everything instructors and students need to know about rice and its many uses in foodservice.
USA Rice's Judy Rusignuolo accepted the award on behalf of "America's rice farmers and millers who are dedicated to producing the highest-quality rice in world. It is our mission to foster the growth of culinary students through education, and we believe this is a valuable education tool in the classroom," she said.
This is the second IACP Award of Excellence USA Rice's foodservice program has received; the first was for "best corporate marketing program" in 2008. This year's prestigious award will spur new interest and promotional opportunities for U.S. rice in foodservice, and USA Rice will leverage this in upcoming promotions and programs.
Visit the Education Center for more information and to download U.S. Rice in the Culinary Classroom and the accompanying PowerPoints. A limited number of print copies are available to chef educators by online request.
James Beard Event Brings Together Chefs and Farmers to Celebrate Louisiana Cookery
Louisiana rice farmers participated in one of the most distinguished culinary gatherings of the year, "Chefs for Louisiana Cookery," sponsored by the James Beard Foundation in New Orleans. Nearly 30 of the city's top chefs like Darin Nesbit with Dickie Brennan's restaurants in New Orleans, partnered with local farmers to create dishes that showcased the state's bounty of quality ingredients, including Louisiana-grown rice.
Rice farmers Jimmy Hoppe and Jeff Durand represented the Louisiana Rice Promotion Board (LARPB) and USA Rice Federation. Hoppe Farms produces Louisiana favorites including a new variety of aromatic jasmine rice called Jazzman Rice, now available in foodservice and retail outlets. Jeff Durand is a St. Martinville farmer of rice and crawfish, two culinary staples of the region. Dishes highlighted included crawfish and crabmeat ravioli, charbroiled oysters, rice calas and more.
"The 'Chefs for Louisiana Cookery' event provided the ideal platform to address the growing importance of supporting local/U.S.-grown foods like rice. It was an extremely proud moment to have USA Rice members further connect with chefs who choose U.S.-grown rice," LARPB Chairman Kevin Berken said.
Read more about the farm-to-table connection from Farmer Jimmy Hoppe and Executive Chef Darin Nesbit featured in Chef's Corner.
University of Arkansas Debuts New Rice Research Center
University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture debuts its new Rice Research and Extension Center (RREC). The new 33,000-square-foot facility reflects the importance to support research programs conducted on behalf of Arkansas farmers.
"This new site offers scientists the opportunity to conduct rice research in a state-of-the-art facility with advanced technologies," said Arkansas Rice Federation Executive Director Ben Noble. "We thank the University of Arkansas for the work it has done on behalf of rice farmers and look forward to its accomplishments in the future."