The annual trek of the nation's top foodservice operators in higher education led to San José, CA in July, where the National Association of College and University Food Services convened its national conference.

“We wanted to give attendees the flavor of what the Bay Area does best — technology, sustainability and food — and combine that with what NACUFS does best — education, networking and best practices,” said conference chair Shawn LaPean.

The program certainly met that goal, beginning with a pre-conference sustainability “road trip” that included visits to nearby organic farms and a tour of operations at the University of California-Santa Cruz campus. Main agenda educational sessions covered better procurement practices, a fascinating anthropological look at student snacking behavior and an extended session on how trends in healthful menus and ethnic flavor enhancement are converging to make campus dining more interesting — and more competitive — than ever before.

In NACUFS' annual business meeting, Director of Dining Janet Paul Rice of Concordia College was installed as the 2010-2011 president and Director of Dining Nona Golledge, University of Kansas, was installed as president-elect. Shirleta Benfield, University of Oklahoma, will be the 2011 conference chair.

University of Nevada-Reno’s Russ Meyer as he fi nished his 250 mile bike ride to the conference. Meyer raised over $17,000 for NACUFS’ Clark DeHaven Scholarship Fund with his effort.	NACUFS AWARD VIDEOS: You can view video clips of the NACUFS presentations of the Theodore Minah Award, Daryl Van Hook Award and Richard Lichtenfelt Award at: food-management.com/video

NACUFS' top honor, the Theodore W. Minah Distinguished Service award, went to Cam Schauf in recognition of his many contributions to the NACUFS organization and its membership over the years.

NACUFS presented its Lichtenfelt Awards to BYU's Dean Wright and Performance Food Group's Haddon Reines; and the Daryl Van Hook Industry Award went to Hobart's Dick Hynes. Peg Lacey was recognized with the NACUFS Distinguished Lifetime Member Achievement Award.