Zest: The Health meets Food Newsletter
January 2024
Zest. It says a lot about what the folks who are involved with Culinary Medicine are about. People connected with the Culinary Medicine movement have just that: a zest for life, learning, and teaching.
Zest evokes the excitement and passion that is happening at the intersection of where health meets food.
Save the Date for the Culinary Medicine Specialist Board Roundtable
Our next Roundtable discussion will be held at 6:00 PM Eastern time on February 12, 2024.
After registering you will be enrolled in the course and materials for the roundtable will be available to you. There will also be a link where you are able to access the Zoom information.
The topic will be Culinary Medicine: Past, Present and Future. Speakers from across the country who are active in the Culinary Medicine movement will speak about the origins of programming, the current state of the art, and a glimpse of what the future holds.
David D Dungan MD, FACP, FAAP, CCMS
Secretary, Clinical Board of Directors
Duly Health and Care
Dr. David Dungan, board-certified in internal medicine, pediatrics, and culinary medicine, serves as Secretary of the Clinical Board of the Duly Health and Care physician organization. Dr. Dungan is an experienced internist and pediatrician who specializes in high quality personalized healthcare for all ages. For the past decade he has been passionate about food as medicine for his patients and advocates for both healthy food and food security to benefit the patients and communities that Duly Health and Care serves.
Dr. Dungan has led Culinary Medicine programming at Duly Health a large multi-specialty group in Chicago where he and his team have implemented hands-on cooking classes as shared medical appointments.
The program will last two hours via Zoom and will be similar in format to our last event, which can be accessed here: Culinary Medicine Specialist Board Foodservice Roundtable.
University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC)
We welcome University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) to the Health meets Food family as a new partner site! Chef Kerri visited the team at KUMC led by Dr Margaret Smith, CCMS and Dr Marissa Love last month to provide training and onboarding on utilizing the Health meets Food curriculum for their students. KUMC’s team of culinary medicine instructors represents the interdisciplinary approach the HmF curriculum emphasizes. The instructors who participated in the training weekend included a chef, physicians, and dietitians.
The team participated and led 3 hands-on culinary medicine classes over 2 days. They invited other KUMC faculty, staff, residents, and students to participate and earn CME credit which offered a great chance to build even more support for culinary medicine programming at KUMC and provided faculty and staff the opportunity to see the classes for themselves.
A few weeks after Chef Kerri’s visit, the team launched Health meets Food classes for their medical students. The medical students got a chance to participate in hands-on cooking classes and apply practical skills needed to implement healthy lifestyle changes. The medical students enjoyed the classes and according to Dr Smith “they learned what they don’t know and how difficult this may be for our patients on a limited income.”
The classes offer students a realistic look into the implementation of nutrition concepts so they may be better prepared in offering support and resources as patients navigate their journey to improved health.
CMSB Advisory Board Spotlight
Jessica VanRoo
Chef Jessica VanRoo, aka “Chef Jess,” transforms food into a healing art that tantalizes the taste buds. Chef Jess elevates food into a therapeutic masterpiece that captivates the palate. With nearly 20 years of culinary expertise and a culinary management degree from the Art Institute of Orange County, she assumes the role of executive chef at the UCI Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute’s Mussallem Nutritional Education Center.
In this capacity, Chef Jess passionately designs programs that harmonize exquisite flavors with the principles of culinary medicine. Leading a team of leaders, including chefs, dietitians, and physicians, she seamlessly intertwines food and health in innovative initiatives. With a diverse culinary background and a flair for creativity, Chef Jess crafts unforgettable culinary experiences.
Her commitment to using fresh, locally sourced ingredients shines through in every dish, creating a symphony of captivating taste. Guided by the wisdom of Hippocrates, she passionately advocates for the transformative influence of food, epitomizing the philosophy, “Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food.”
What is your favorite ingredient?
Cumin Seeds
What is your least favorite ingredient?
English Peas
What turns you on creatively?
What inspires my creativity is the universal need for humans to eat to survive. The awareness that every person relies on nourishment for survival fuels my creativity to explore the world’s cultures and innovate approaches to provide people with the most nutritious and delightful journeys with food.
What turns you off?
Food critics. To me, food is like art; therefore, it’s an expression of an individual. Some people like red more than blue, some like spicy food, and others don’t. I don’t think anyone has the power to tell people their “art” is better or worse than any others. It’s personal, and critics, to me, make it personal to only themselves.
What is your favorite recipe or meal?
As of now, as I’m answering this question, it would have to be a Taiwanese thick noodle stew made of vermicelli and chitterlings. It is stewed for hours, flavored with bonito flakes, and garnished with excessive garlic, cilantro, and chili oil and I like it for breakfast! I have a feeling if you asked this question tomorrow, I would have a different answer.
What culinary flavor or aroma do you love?
I love the flavor and aroma of sauteed onions and garlic, I’m sure a vampire would naturally stay away from me.
What culinary flavor or aroma do you hate?
It’s hard to hate any aroma, but the one that makes the most impact on my olfactory glands would have to be the gray Thai fermented shrimp paste. I’ll cook with it and eat it, but a straight whiff of it can be impactful!
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Is a professional crocheter or cross stitcher a job? If not, I have always wanted to attend law school or become a detective. Mariska Hargitay on Law and Order makes it look so cool!
What profession would you not like to do?
I can’t be a surgeon. The sight of blood makes me weak at the knees, even my own!
Julia Child invites you to a pot luck dinner with James Beard and Aguste Escoffier. What dish would you take?
My amah’s (grandmother’s) satay fish head soup! I’ll make sure to use three fish heads so that Child, Beard and Escoffier can each have a couple cheeks.
2024 Poster Session at Health meets Food: The Culinary Medicine Conference
We will hold a poster session at the 2024 Health meets Food: The Culinary Medicine Conference. The deadline for submission will be in mid-March, 2024. Our Chair for the poster review will be Dr. Karen Lindsay.
The Health meets Food Research team is now accepting applications for Faculty, Resident and/or Student Posters.
This is the opportunity to showcase how your site has utilized Culinary Medicine in teaching and patient intervention and for others to learn of the outcomes in your location. Show attendees the many ways in which culinary medicine has been taught, appreciated and used in your patient and student population. Student submissions are highly encouraged.
Poster submissions will be peer-reviewed for academic content and interest by the HMF Research Committee. In addition to publication of your poster and abstract on the website and ability to present the work at the conference, we will evaluate all contributions for the best 2024 contribution. Our judging methods will include evaluation of relevance of the study question, choice of methodology, soundness of results and conclusions, replicability, effectiveness of poster display and importance of the contribution of work accomplished with regard to advancing the field of culinary medicine in education. The winner of this evaluation process will receive free admission to the 2025 annual HMF conference.
Please copy form, complete and submit in Word format. Include a 150 word summary of this activity which will be posted on the Health meets Food website (if accepted) with your actual poster.
Download the Poster Submission Form (PDF).
Email your completed application to kllindsa@hs.uci.edu
Featured Speaker: Health meets Food: The Culinary Medicine Conference
Dr. Robert Lustig
University of California San Francisco
Dr. Lustig is Professor emeritus of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He specializes in the field of neuroendocrinology, with an emphasis on the regulation of energy balance by the central nervous system.
His research and clinical practice has focused on childhood obesity and diabetes. Dr. Lustig has fostered a global discussion of metabolic health and nutrition, exposing some of the leading myths that underlie the current pandemic of diet-related disease. He believes the food business, by pushing processed food loaded with sugar, has hacked our bodies and minds to pursue pleasure instead of happiness, fostering today’s epidemics of addiction and depression. Yet by focusing on real food, we can beat the odds against sugar, processed food, obesity, and disease.
The New York Times bestselling author’s new book, Metabolical, explains the eight pathologies that underlie all chronic disease, documents how processed food has impacted them to ruin our health, economy, and environment over the past 50 years, and proposes an urgent manifesto and strategy to cure both us and the planet.
The 10th Annual Health meets Food: The Culinary Medicine Conference
Register now and receive a 50.00 Early Bird Discount
The conference will take place June 6 through June 9, 2024.
This year we will be in Washington, DC and held in collaboration with Prince George’s Community College Department of Wellness, Culinary Arts and Hospitality at their amazing facility.
We will look at a reboot of fundamental knowledge on Friday, review the state of the art on Saturday, and on Sunday look at the cutting edge and future of food and nutrition.
THURSDAY
Optional hands-on Health meets Food modules with additional fee.
FRIDAY: REBOOT OF FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE
Friday programming will focus on the foundational elements of how patients and patrons think about diet and healthy food. We will explore the adaptability of Mediterranean diet and the research behind heritage diets around the world along with the current evidence around popular diets such as intermittent fasting, ketogenic diet and the carbon footprint of our foodways.
SATURDAY: CHALLENGES IN CULINARY MEDICINE
During this year’s culinary skills building sessions we will explore the challenges our vulnerable patients face with cooking great healthy food using a variety of pre-selected ingredients. Teams will create and share recipes with other conference participants in the afternoon sessions.
SUNDAY: LOOKING TO THE HORIZON – FOOD FOR THOUGHT
What does the future hold for our patients and patrons?
View the Agenda Speaker List Register Now!
Hotel Information
Last Day to Book: Sunday, May 5, 2024
Health meets Food special group rate: $169.00 USD to $269.00 USD per room per night
Residence Inn Largo Medical Center Drive
1330 Caraway Court
Largo, Maryland, 20774
301-925-7806
Book your Hotel Room for Health mets Food: The Culinary Medicine Conference
Culinary Medicine Research and News
People with food insecurity deserve better nutrition education
Since spring 2022, a flood of migrants fleeing political instability in Venezuela — about 136,000 — have settled in Queens, New York, and are in desperate need of food and other resources. The surging migrant population has led to depleted food pantries in the borough; as of June 2023, more than 20.5% of Queens residents are experiencing food insecurity. They may be physically safe, but are swept into the new challenge of hunger.
Upcoming In-Person Culinary Medicine Classes
The Health meets Food team offers Culinary Medicine continuing medical education classes for medical professionals in Washington, DC as well as with partners across the United States, with locations varying by date.
Each class costs $200.00 and CE credits are available for Physicians, Physician Assistants, Registered Dietitians, Pharmacists, Nurse Practitioners, Nurses, and Certified Diabetes Educators.
This in-person programming will be held at: Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University 300 N Broad St Suite 102 New Orleans, LA 70119
Introduction to Culinary Medicine: We present an outline of both the Mediterranean and DASH diets and examine recent sources and studies examining the effectiveness of both in terms of treating diet-related illnesses. We also review methods of communicating these principles to patients along with an introduction to basic kitchen safety and knife handling skills. For more information, please email hnace@tulane.edu, 504-988-9108
This in-person programming will be held at: Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University 300 N Broad St Suite 102 New Orleans, LA 70119
Systemic Approaches to Obesity: This module describes obesity as a multifactorial disease process and reviews the complications of obesity. This module also helps learners understand a multifaceted approach to the management of obesity. Topics range from dietary counseling, meal replacement, and pharmaceutical approaches to cognitive behavioral therapy. For more information, please email hnace@tulane.edu, 504-988-9108
This in-person programming will be held at: Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University 300 N Broad St Suite 102 New Orleans, LA 70119
Anti-Inflammatory Diet: In this module attendees will learn about the relationship between foods, advanced glycation end products, and free radicals. We will review the evidence about the role of diet in heart disease, stroke, COPD, cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and kidney failure, as well as the inflammatory pathways and where food fits in it. We will also present the evidence showing a relationship between advanced glycation end products, free radicals, and degenerative disorders. For more information, please email hnace@tulane.edu, 504-988-9108
Thursday June 6, 2024 at 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM EDT – Module 1 – Introduction to Culinary Medicine
There will be no virtual option for this date. This in-person programming will be held as part of Health meets Food: The Culinary Medicine Conference at the Prince George’s Community College
There will be no virtual option for this date. This in-person programming will be held as part of Health meets Food: The Culinary Medicine Conference at Prince George’s Community College
There will be no virtual option for this date. This in-person programming will be held as part of Health meets Food: The Culinary Medicine Conference at the Prince George’s Community College.
Upcoming Virtual Culinary Medicine Classes
The Health meets Food team has been offering virtual online hands-on Culinary Medicine programming for over 3 years. Participants use Zoom to gather, collaborate, cook together, and discuss case studies. Each module will follow the workflow of in-person programming and will take about 3 1/2 hours to complete.
For registration problems, questions, or for more event information, please contact Cecilia Hatfield at cecilia@culinarymedicine.org.
Saturday August 10, 2024 at 12:00 PM to 3:30 PM EDT – Module 3 – Fats – Virtual Programming via Zoom
Donate to the Culinary Medicine Specialist Board
Your donation to the Culinary Medicine Specialist Board goes to support the work of the organization, including creation and revision of extensive programming for culinary schools, medical schools, residency programs, nursing schools, and dietetic programs, as well as continuing medical education and certification programs and the yearly Health meets Food: The Culinary Medicine Conference.
The CMSB is a 501c3 non-profit and your donation is fully tax deductible.
Free Food Security Continuing Medical Education Online
The Health meets Food team offers free continuing medical education programming focused on food security issues:
1. Food Security in Older Adults
2. SNAP and WIC
3. Food Banks and Medically Tailored Meals
This is a significant issue for many in our society and the courseware covers background as well as actionable information for healthcare professionals. All three of these modules are also available for use by partner-sites using the Health meets Food courseware for healthcare professional students.
Health meets Food Clothing and Swag
We are excited to announce the availability of Health meets Food clothing and swag.
Time to purchase some great Health meets Food clothing and swag. Great as a gift for yourself, family, friends and (even better) your Culinary Medicine colleagues.
Choose from baseball caps, t-shirts, polo shirts, embroidered aprons, mugs and water bottles.
The Certified Culinary Medicine Specialist (CCMS) Program
The Certified Culinary Medicine Specialist (CCMS) designation identifies clinicians who have a unique foundation for incorporating healthy eating into patients’ diets: comprehensive knowledge of nutrition and the culinary techniques to prepare food that is consistent with real-world budgets, time constraints, and nutritional ideals. Physicians, Physicians Assistants, Pharmacists, Registered Dietitians and Nurse Practitioners are eligible for certification.
The hybrid 60-credit curriculum includes a distinctive combination of online nutrition education courses, live conferences, and in-person attendance at hands-on teaching kitchen modules.By completing the program, clinicians will enhance their confidence and quality of care by learning how to:
- Integrate nutritional counseling to supplement pharmacological treatment
- Educate patients about weight loss and weight management
- Develop practical examination-room dialogues that inspire behavioral change
- Implement new strategies in even the busiest primary care offices
Apply for the CCMS Program Now!
Culinary Medicine Programming for Chefs and Foodservice Professionals
The Advisory Board and the Health meets Food team is excited to announce pioneering Culinary Medicine programming for chefs and foodservice professionals. The programming launches today as a 20 module series and the courseware will be available for culinary schools as well as a certification program.
Chefs and foodservice professionals are perfectly positioned to play a central role in changing the way Americans eat. However, many chefs and foodservice professionals feel their nutrition education and ability to communicate practical, effective guidance to consumers as well as their skill to produce food that is healthy and delicious is lacking.
The Certified Culinary Medicine Professional (CCMP) program provides foodservice professional at any level with a unique combination of nutritional knowledge and improved healthy culinary skills so that they can effectively incorporate healthy options into menus to help consumers.
Through certification, foodservice professionals will enhance their knowledge, confidence, and skills by learning how to:
- Evaluate and apply the most rigorous current research to menu and recipe development.
- Enhance the quality of meals prepared.
- Improve the diet quality especially targeting diet-related chronic diseases
Featuring a hybrid 45-credit curriculum comprised of online education, live conference learning, and hands-on teaching kitchen modules, the CCMP program is designed for those passionate about integrating science-based nutrition research into their culinary skillset and will equip candidates with the nutritional knowledge and culinary skills to optimize health.
View the program’s hybrid curriculum and steps towards certification.
