By Karin Endy

The Culinary Trust (TCT) has been offering scholarships to entering culinary students and continuing education for culinary professionals since its inception, more than 25 years ago. Back in 1984, when TCT was born as the Cooking Advancement Research and Education Foundation, there was an emphasis on setting standards for culinary professionals. While IACP created the Certified Culinary Professional (CCP), TCT focused on scholarships that would give culinary professionals the skills needed to meet the CCP standards. Providing skills, setting standards, and creating recognition for our profession were essential for the industry at that time.

Fast forward. The culinary profession has arrived. Several television channels are devoted full-time to food, and numerous other channels include food programming as part of their regular lineup. Alice Waters' message has spread across the United States with farmers' markets and local food on the center of the plate. Vocational culinary education is seen as a legitimate career path for high school graduates, and chefs around the world are lauded as celebrities.

With the heightened focus on food, the lens has also shifted to where our food comes from, how we eat, and the relationship between food and health. Farmers are in the spotlight right next to celebrity chefs, and organics have taken a huge leap out of the health food store and into the supermarket, reaching more than $26 billion in annual sales.

What does this mean for TCT? For entering culinary students, the need for financial assistance to attend culinary school has never been greater – tuition is up, income is down, and the credit crunch has caused a severe contraction in student loan programs.

For culinary professionals, there is an emphasis on how our profession impacts the greater world around us. Food production has been singled out as a leading cause of global warming, pesticides once thought safe are now considered health risks, and processed foods have been implicated in an obesity epidemic among children. The culinary community has been forced to look at the health and environmental implications that relate to what we cook and eat. And TCT has expanded its scholarship opportunities to address these concerns.

For the first time, the program includes internships for culinary professionals that will provide knowledge and skills so that culinary professionals can make a difference in the world of food. We are proud to have the following organizations as our inaugural host sites: Share Our Strength - Cooking Matters, New York City's Greenmarket, Wellness in the Schools, the John Besh Foundation, and The Sylvia Center.

Please visit  theculinarytrust.org for applications and submit yours by March 1.

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Karin Endy is Chairman of the Board of The Culinary Trust and serves as liaison to the IACP Food History, Food Policy, and Kids in the Kitchen interest sections. She is also the owner of Edible Resources, a consulting company that assists non-profits and food companies with education and sustainability matters.