COVID-19 Travel and Activity Status:
Updated: June 1, 2020
We are closely monitoring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization's statements regarding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and following guidelines from these agencies and the local health departments.
The well-being of our members, associates and partners is of paramount importance.
Membership
ACF members are facing difficult and uncertain financial futures, due to the disruption of life as we know it… the potential reduction in forces, furloughs and/or closures of businesses, etc. One of the ways we can assist you, is with your membership renewals. Therefore, beginning immediately, and throughout the next six months, should you not be able to renew your membership, please call Membership at the ACF National Office, or email Membership@ACFChefs.net, so we can make arrangements for you. Once approved, your membership will extend for this interim period, with your commitment to renew once able to do so. We will review this after six months, to determine any further need to extend.
ChefConnect - Nashville
ChefConnect Nashville has been rescheduled.
The new dates are 10/26 - 10/28/2020.
National Convention
For the first time in the American Culinary Federation’s 91-year history, it is with a heavy heart that ACF regretfully must cancel the in-person portion of this year’s 2020 National Convention in Dallas, Texas and moving to a full virtual platform. We can’t express enough how grateful we are for your patience as we explored every viable option.
As we walked through all the information provided from the state and federal guidelines, assessed the facts, analyzed the data and carefully calculated outcomes of various scenarios, it became abundantly clear that this was the best decision for our members, our sponsors & vendors, and our staff members. At the end of the day, your health and safety remained our number one priority.
ACF has begun to prep the new ‘ACF Virtual Convention’ platform which will house online interactive programs – for more information please Click Here!
Education - Online Learning
We are offering a learning bundle with free access to several courses and conference recordings on the ACF Online Learning Center, through June, 2020. This will assist both ACF members and non-ACF members. We hope this will inspire and provide a venue of innovative learning opportunities/experiences to you, while at home, practicing “social distancing” and while awaiting, for this all to turn around for the world.
Included in this “ACFUnited” bundle, tuition waived through June 2020, are the following:
Introduction to Foodservice – 30 Hour
This course is a 30-hour, self-paced introduction to the fundamentals of the food service industry. It will provide a framework from which to build a career within the industry and will establish a foundation for future ACF coursework.
Safety and Sanitation – 30 Hour
This course is a 30-hour, self-paced introduction to safety and sanitation. You will gain a basic understanding of safety and sanitation principles as they relate to the food and culinary industry.
Beekeeping for the Executive Chef
Discover the benefits of beekeeping for chefs in this introductory course.
Select ACF Conference Sessions
Bring ACF conferences right to your computer. Watch recordings of selected sessions from each of our conferences at your convenience to gain valuable industry knowledge and earn CEHs.
Select Ingredient of the Month Quizzes
These quizzes were generated from the Ingredient of the Month full articles as denoted by the date heading.
Select NCR Quizzes
These quizzes were generated from articles and stories found in issues of ACF’s The National Culinary Review as denoted by the date heading.
Registration and Access
To access the “ACFUnited” learning bundle, please visit www.acfchefs.org/OLC. ACF members will log in to their member account. Nonmembers will create a web account. The “ACFUnited” learning bundle is on the main page of the ACF Online Learning Center under “Featured Learning.”
Accreditation Site Visits
We will be in contact with site administrators and volunteers to reschedule visits. There will not be any additional costs levied for rescheduling. If a program accreditation is near expiration we will work with the program coordinator on a mutually agreeable solution.
Please do not be concerned about your program’s accreditation status, all programs during an imposed closing period will be extended. Please continue to work on your self-study, and submit it to the ACFEF accreditation office staff. We will be in contact with site administrators and volunteers when more guidance comes out.
Curriculum delivery modifications developed by programs and approved by their administration will meet our requirements. We do not need to approve them nor is any program required to report how they will deliver the practical requirements.
Certifications - Updated
Since certifications are scheduled and conducted on a local case by case basis, we are relying on Host Site Administrators to decide whether they should continue with scheduled tests.
Host Site Administrators are requested to contact ACF National to coordinate their plans.
PSI began an official re-opening of domestic owned and operated (O&O) test centers May 1st, with most sites open by May 18th. Due to the 50% capacity to assure social distancing and everyone’s safety, PSI are methodically working through scheduling and rescheduling candidates as needed. Please visit PSI for more information.
Please send an email to certify@acfchefs.net to request an extension on your certification application process.
For the most updated information, please refer to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or your local health authority.
Apprenticeship
Any apprentices that are laid-off from their place of employment due to the current world health crisis will be put into suspension status allowing us to credit this amount of time to their scheduled program end date. Please send their names to Jean McElwain, jmcelwain@acfchefs.net.
