IACP Announces Recipients of 2005 Award of Excellence
Winner: Getting Thin & Loving Food, 200 Easy Recipes to Take You Where You Want to Be, by Kathleen Daelemans, Houghton Mifflin, 2004

Article by Talitha Daelemans

Best known these days as one of the country's unlikeliest weight loss success stories, 75 pounds and counting, Daelemans' first made her mark at the stove of her Hawaii restaurant, Café Kula, at the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel and Spa on the island of Maui where she was praised for menus prepared with organic produce obtained from small farms located throughout the Hawaiian Islands. It's only natural that her love of pure, authentic locally grown organic food lead to her dramatic weight loss and greatly improved health. "Most often meals were prepared with produce harvested hours before service", Daelemans says.

During her tutelage at San Francisco's Zuni Café with chef/owner Judy Rodgers, she learned to "Make menus after meeting with suppliers." Daelemans took her mentor's message to heart, "When you develop local sources, you become part of the culture, and everybody works hard to produce the best organic fruits, vegetables, and herbs possible."

While in San Francisco Daelemans volunteered for many Bay Area Benefits where she met and worked for Alice Waters of Chez Panisse who imparted similar values, "When you understand where your food comes from, you look at the world in an entirely different way. In order for there to be a future to the environmental movement, we must teach the children that taking care of the land and learning to feed yourself is just as important as reading, writing, and arithmetic."

Daelemans was tireless in her commitment to supporting local farmers while in the islands and received an award from the Hawaii State Senate for her promotion of local organic agriculture. She is a charter member of Chef's Collaborative 2000, "a project by gourmet chefs from around the world to advance sustainable food choices for the next century."

"By supporting local sustainable organic agriculture and comprising meals that are not only delicious and nutritionally sound, we can impart to our children and each other the impact our food choices have on our health, our communities and our environment. This belief can lead to bettering communities both physically and environmentally," says Daelemans.

I sat down with Daelemans and asked her what it meant to win the award, "It's extremely humbling to have your work recognized by culinary professionals whose work you respect and admire. I had the good fortune of being surrounded by friends and family during the production of this book. It was a group effort in that there were always (mostly) willing participants on hand to sample the food and proof read the work, "one more time, I promise". Miho Mizuno my friend, culinary assistant and teacher put up with way more than anyone should have to. My editor, Rux Martin, somehow managed to wade through the minutia of "too much information" and whittle down the pages to an easy read. My agent, Doe Coover, was there to peel me off the pavement on days I thought I "couldn't do it" and of course my parents, my sister Carol and the love of my life were all there on her days off. Cooking Thin fans, especially those on the forum were (as always) generous enough to share their stories and sage words. Without them there would be no one to work for or be inspired by. I'm truly thankful for the opportunities they've afforded me and am more committed than ever to continue to research and deliver ways we can all eat right, get fit and live well.