ABSTRACT
The commentary that follows is also new to this edition of Strategic Questions in Food and Beverage Management. It takes as its focus what is asserted to be the conventional model of food and beverage management education in hospitality programmes and offers a critical commentary on such provision, of the research and literature which underpins it, and of the supposed role and needs of the hospitality industry with regard to food and beverage. The essence of the argument presented is that the conventional provisions made for food and beverage management education in a hospitality management context are indeed inadequate, with a continuing emphasis on knowledge pertaining to products, processes and procedures effectively crowding out understanding of the wider economic and social influences on food and drink consumption. Further, it is held that echoes of the past in current educational provision have diminished the status of food and beverage management education within hospitality programmes and have thus limited the opportunities available for developing the subject in line with current needs.
