Sure, you see all the food magazines on the stands this time of year – all displaying dressed-up turkeys. But do you ever stop to think what goes in to getting those birds on the glossy cover of a national publication? According to The New York Times, "The turkey has done what a supermodel never could: land the cover of dozens of magazines in a single month."

The paper goes further to examine what it takes to be a supermodel turkey. Says Dana Cowin, editor in chief of Food & Wine, "Turkey, as a model, is very much like a fashion magazine with fashion models. There are plump turkeys, and, I’m not kidding you, there’s skinny turkeys, there are chesty turkeys, breasty turkeys, there are flat-chested turkeys."

"We have enhanced the breasts of turkeys," Cowin admits.

Read more here.

At Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital in southeastern Michigan, we believe an integral part of providing exceptional health care means teaching people how to stay well. That means in addition to great clinical excellence, we must have a firm commitment to helping the members of our community learn and participate in activities and programs geared toward their overall well-being. And it all starts with what we eat.

Traditionally, we think of hospital food and some unappetizing images come to
mind: Little or no nutritional value. Lots of grease and fat. Barely a vegetable to be found. You get the idea. So why do we insist on feeding our patients and their families food that only contributes to the problems that bring them to the hospital in the first place?

The answer is we shouldn’t, and at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, we don’t.

Henry’s, the café at our hospital that serves all of our patients their families and other members of the community, offers healthy, fresh organic produce, low-sodium foods and in general a bounty of options that are good for the body, including the taste buds.

But with health care costs rising, we know we have to deliver this incredible cuisine at a reasonable cost, and that’s where our community partners come in. By creating relationships with local organic farms, we can buy fresh, tasty produce at reasonable prices, making sure nutrient-rich foods are delivered to our customers.

By partnering with a local culinary college, we have made Henry’s a teaching kitchen, reducing labor costs and utilizing the talents of passionate, motivated student chefs that represent the hospital culinary directors of the future. In addition, our 24-hour room service policy reduces the amount of wasted food, providing even more cost savings while creating an enhanced experience for patients and other customers. Guests eat what they want, when they want it, all in accordance with their specific condition or dietary restrictions. This is the way hospital food was meant to be and, we believe, the future of health care.

But serving healthy food to patients and the community is just the beginning. We have a responsibility to help people make healthy choices when they’re at home as well. That’s why we offer healthy cooking classes for members of the community as well as patients with specific illnesses like diabetes and cancer at the demonstration kitchen, a 90-seat auditorium inside our hospital. Our weekly farmers’ market provides economic support for local business and gives community members another reason to visit us when they are healthy as well as the tools to stay that way. Vita, our wellness center, teaches the value of living healthy through nutrition and exercise, and offers the latest integrative therapies to assist our community members.

Plans for the future include the world’s first Culinary Learning Institute for
Health Care, where hospitals, universities, hotels, restaurants and other service industries can come and learn how to integrate healthy, tasty cuisine into their businesses. Also on the way is a greenhouse and educational center where produce will be grown for the hospital and children in the community can come and learn about healthy organic farming.

By stretching the boundaries of what a hospital can be and serving as a community center for well-being, we are changing the way people think about hospitals and in turn, the way they take care of themselves. To learn more, visit www.henryford.com/foodrevolution.

Note: This post was originally published in the October issue of Foodie News as a guest column. It was written by Gerard van Grinsven, president and CEO of Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital.

According to a new BBC series, many Tokyo restaurants tempt customers by displaying plastic versions of their menu in the window. What looks like real food is anything but.

"What started as a marketing ploy is now almost an art form, as skilled workers recreate everything from a bowl of soup to an ice-cream sundae," says BBC journalist Roland Buerk.

And don't expect the plastic food sensation to remain exclusive to Tokyo for long. With expanded marketing, plastic spaghetti and even beer could soon be coming to a restaurant near you.

Watch the video here.

The continuing trend of consumers preparing and eating more meals at home rather than dining out presents a rich opportunity for meat managers at retail supermarkets. However, consumers’ strong interest in preparing meat dishes may not be matched by their culinary skills, which is where the opportunity for meat managers comes in.

With the goal of honing their skills at helping home cooks, many supermarket meat managers, meat cutters, butchers and the like are learning how to think more like chefs.

The Alabama Cattlemen’s Association hosted a “Beef Training Camp” this summer where more than 80 meat managers and the CEO of Southern Family Markets learned from chefs methods to properly grill Flat Iron steaks and discovered the nuances of dry (grilled or broiled) and wet (simmering or braising) cooking.

The meat managers attending the training prepared meals themselves under the watchful eyes of chefs who also offered tips on responding to consumer inquiries. After a full day of hands-on training, meat managers are prepped and ready to offer consumers advice on how to prepare, cook and serve meats with confidence and flair.

Public opinion research conducted as part of the Beef CheckOff consistently reveals that consumers view supermarket meat managers as experts and look to them for information.

“It’s vitally important that meat managers are trained in the latest consumer preferences, wants and needs,” Ed Whatley, manager of beef promotion and producer communications at ACA told Foodie News. “Educated consumers will purchase more meat. The bottom line is this kind of training helps sales,” he said.

The camp conducted by ACA is part of a national program coordinated by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).

Gourmet magazine announced today it is ceasing publication after 70 years because of the economic climate. The November issue will likely be its last. "I feel like Linus and somebody has yanked away my security blanket," said one devoted reader who has been a subscriber for 32 years.

Many foodies were shocked upon learning the news. The magazine has nearly 1 million subscribers. To learn more, click here.