Two leading personalities shaping U.S. food culture will share top billing at Produce Marketing Association’s Foodservice Conference & Expo.
Television host, writer and cookbook author Ted Allen will speak at the conference on July 26, with a talk on “Changing the Way Americans View and Taste Food,” according to a news release.
Explorer, researcher and speaker Dan Buettner will deliver a July 27 presentation called “Blue Zones: Secrets of a Long Life.”
Food culture plus
Allen, according to the release, will share his thoughts on what’s next for the foodservice industry, and also will also help judge PMA’s Strolling Lunch competition.
Allen has been a food and wine connoisseur on Bravo’s “Queer Eye,” according to the release. He has won an Emmy for “Queer Eye” and James Beard Awards for hosting the TV show “Chopped.” Allen also is a contributing writer for Esquire, Bon Appetit, and Food Network Magazine, and is the author of “The Food You Want to Eat: 100 Smart, Simple Recipes.”
Blue zones
Buettner has traveled the globe in search of secrets to happiness and long life, according to the release. He will take PMA Foodservice Conference attendees on a visual journey to what researchers call Blue Zones, identified as places in the world that share common attributes that lead to long life.
His books, “The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest,” “Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way,” “The Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World’s Healthiest People,” and “The Blue Zones of Happiness,” have all been national bestsellers, according to the release.
“We provide the best gathering of the movers, shakers and innovators in foodservice each July against the backdrop of Monterey Bay, and a host of activities surround PMA’s conference and expo, like grower tours, plant tours, and customer parties,” Jill Overdorf, co-chairwoman of PMA’s foodservice committee and director of business development of value-added fresh and corporate chef at Naturipe Farms, said in the release. “It’s a mecca for showcasing new uses for fresh produce in foodservice and value-added products.”
