First-of-its-kind learning tool for culinary-arts students honored by FENI.
Clifton Park, N.Y.– April 28, 2008 – Delmar Cengage Learning, the leading provider of lifelong learning products and services for career education markets, is pleased to announce the presentation of the People’s Choice Award to Vivian C. Cadbury, author of A Taste for Writing: Composition for Culinarians, by the Foodservice Educators Network International (FENI) at the recent 2008 FENI Summit in Las Vegas. The award, determined by approximately 200 instructors representing culinary-training programs at community and career colleges and high schools nationwide, recognized Cadbury’s entry in FENI’s inaugural Poster Sessions, which showcased exemplary educational practices and solution-providing ideas from select schools across the country. Cadbury, an associate professor who teaches writing at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, N.Y., was on hand to receive the distinction.
A Taste for Writing: Composition for Culinarians (ISBN 1-4180-1554-7, $39.95) is the first composition and grammar textbook created specifically for culinary-arts students. The text breaks down barriers between culinary-arts students and composition through explanations that draw images and examples from food and cooking. The concept of “brainstorming” ideas early in the writing process is compared to peeling a potato, and the commas that surround interrupters in a sentence become a server’s hands carrying a tray of fruit. Writing often has to do with storytelling, and A Taste for Writing exemplifies this by using stories from film and television that will help the reader relate to the concepts. The highly visual text, hands-on activities and samples of writing make the concepts easily accessible to professionals and students alike. A companion instructor’s manual assists educators in delivering the subject matter more effectively.
Cadbury, a Certified Hospitality Educator through the Council on Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Education (CHRIE), has taught English at both the high-school and college levels. She joined the CIA in 2001 as the third hire in the newly established writing department that now comprises eight full-time and more than a dozen adjunct instructors. Her inspiration for developing A Taste for Writing , which was published by Delmar Cengage Learning in 2007, came from years of witnessing students struggle with composition in an era when writing skills are more critical than ever to achieving fulfilling and advanced employment.
“We live in an age when you don’t stay in a single job until you retire,” Cadbury says. “The whole world is different now, and the skills that are needed for long-term employment are better thinking skills, creative skills and storytelling skills. Good writing has to do with all those things. There’s been a conversation in the hospitality industry for 20 years on how to teach writing, whether it should be focused in the English department or in hospitality, and this book embraces both worlds.”
Widely praised for its engaging style, A Taste for Writing is a textbook that informs and encourages students without being patronizing or condescending. Food metaphors in the text coupled with actual student writing samples “demystify” the process of transferring a concept in a student’s mind to paper or computer screen. Additionally, Cadbury uses food-related activities and essay prompts to empower high-school and postsecondary culinary-arts students who are often intimidated by writing.
According to Kristin McNary, senior channel manager at Delmar Cengage Learning, “Students at the CIA and other programs nationwide that have adopted this new teaching tool are not only overcoming their fear of writing, but many are discovering that they enjoy and even excel at it. This promises tremendous potential for better-trained, higher-skilled personnel for tomorrow’s foodservice workforce.”
For more information on A Taste for Writing: Composition for Culinarians, visit: www.culinary.delmar.com.
About Cengage Learning
Cengage Learning, formerly Thomson Learning, delivers highly customized learning solutions for colleges, universities, professors, students, libraries, government agencies, corporations and professionals around the world. These solutions are delivered through specialized content, applications and services that foster academic excellence, professional development, and measurable learning outcomes. Cengage Learning’s existing company and imprint brands include Heinle, Gale, Wadsworth, Delmar Learning, Brooks/Cole and South-Western, among others. For more information on Cengage Learning please visit www.cengage.com.
