Restaurants are serving more and more whole grains, as evidenced by the long list we maintain here on the WGC website. Increasingly, diners are asking for whole grains, and voting with their forks by ordering whole grains when they’re on the menu.

But whole grains are far from mainstream in many restaurants, and that’s why we’re so pleased to see the National Restaurant Association (NRA – but not the rifles one!) take a leadership role in promoting whole grains to its more than 380,000 members.

I had the honor of being invited to speak to the NRA’s Nutrition Executive Study Group Meeting last March in Portland, Oregon. This meeting brought together leading health advocates – most of them registered dietitians – at many of the nation’s top chain restaurants. Yes, chain restaurants these days pretty much all have someone tasked with figuring out how to make sure their food is both delicious and nutritious, and it was a pleasure to speak about whole grains with these three dozen hard-working people.

What an opportunity, to preach the Gospel of Whole Grains to restaurants including Popeye’s, Wendy’s, Brinker (Chili’s, Magiano’s, Romano’s), CKE (Hardee’s, Carl’s Jr, etc.), Darden (Olive Garden, Red Lobster, etc.), Applebee’s, Domino’s Pizza, Firehouse Subs, Dairy Queen, Jack in the Box, Ruby Tuesday, Subway, and Whataburger!

WGC Advisory Board Chair Mike Holleman, who is Director of Culinary Development for Indian Harvest, joined me in Portland to inspire the group with mouthwatering photos of whole grain dishes he and his fellow chefs have created for the foodservice world. We left everyone licking their lips as he described the possibilities that whole grains offer on restaurant menus. (Wanna see some of them? From top to bottom: Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Barley Salad, Greenwheat Freekeh™ Veggie Burger with Sweet Potato Fries, Curried Chicken & Cranberry Apple Black Pearl Lettuce Wraps, Korean Beef Taco Salad, Farro and Quinoa Veggie Slider)

The NRA itself has an RD on staff – Joy Dubost, PhD, RD, CSSD, who is the NRA’s Director of Nutrition and Healthy Living – and today she followed up with good news: the NRA has created a video, featured on its website, promoting the benefits of whole grains. You can see it here – including information about the Whole Grain Stamp and a shout-out to our website.

Kudos to the National Restaurant Association for making sure that whole grains are top of mind in restaurants everywhere. It’s great working with a partner like you! (Cynthia)