Here at Oldways and the Whole Grains Council, food is central to everything we do, and nowhere is that more evident than at conferences.

We know that we can talk about how healthy food can be delicious – and how delicious food can be healthy – until we’re blue in the face, but the light bulbs only go off when people actually taste healthy food, lovingly prepared. Then, they say, “Well, sure. Who wouldn’t want to eat like this?

So part of our formula for a successful conference is:

1. Rustle up good recipes and good ingredients.
2. Invite influential people, especially prominent journalists. (Speaking of influential people, that’s Bob Moore from Bob’s Red Mill stepping up to our grain bar buffet at the conference. Doesn’t he look just like his picture on all those BRM packages?)
3. Feed them well, and send them home to spread the word about good food.

When we first start planning a conference, we warn the hotel: “We’ll be customizing a lot of the food, rather than use your standard banquet menus.” The hotel says, “Sure, sure, no problem,” ‘cause they want our business and the customer is always right.

Then we get into the thick of things, and they see the menu plans we send in. You want quinoa tabbouleh? We don’t serve quinoa. Or We’ll make that salad with regular white rice instead of black rice, okay? Oh, no worries, we respond. We’ll be sending you the quinoa and the black rice – and some sorghum, bulgur, and whole white wheat flour, to boot. There’s a bit of muttering (you can hear it, even over email) and perhaps the hotel staff is wondering what they’ve gotten themselves involved with.

By this time, our conference sponsors are sending all kinds of great ingredients to the hotel kitchen, well ahead of the big event, and the executive chef gets involved. Hmmm. This looks kind of interesting. I wonder what this is all about.

When we arrive on the scene a few days before the conference – with our own chefs in tow – everyone’s excited. After all, it’s like the Food Network is making a house call; the hotel staff gets a fun and new experience, without even leaving home. This time around, chefs Mike Holleman and Anette Grecchi Gray, shown here, were our culinary stars.

A few days later, it’s all over, and we bring the hotel’s kitchen staff out for a curtain call. Another Oldways conference has been brought to a close, and we’ve all learned from each other about the unlimited potential to enjoy good food.

Want to try some of the recipes we enjoyed at our 2011 Whole Grains: the New Norm conference in Portland, Oregon? Click on the links below.

   Italian Bean and Farro Soup

   Quinoa Tabbouleh

   Chinese Black Rice, Orange and Avocado Salad

   Milo (Sorghum) Cucumber Salad

   Bulgur Pilaf with Chickpeas and Herbs

   Brown Rice Apple Crisp

Many thanks to all our culinary friends who allowed us to use their recipes, and to our sponsors who supplied the ingredients to make our conference meals and snacks tell the story of whole grains so much better than words alone could ever do! (Cindy)