Zest: The Health meets Food Newsletter
October 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.
Culinary Medicine Roundtable – School Lunch Program
Join the American College of Culinary Medicine for our Fall 2024 Culinary Medicine Roundtable on November 21 at 5:00 PM Eastern time.
Building on conversations started at this year’s Health meets Food: The Culinary Medicine Conference, the ACCM is convening experts in the field to offer further insight into the history, implementation, public health implications, and innovations in the school lunch program.
Agenda
5:00 pm: Opening Remarks – Dr. Jaclyn Albin
5:10 pm: Susan Levine – Scholar and author of School Lunch Politics: The Surprising History of America’s Favorite Welfare Program
5:30 pm: Dr. Manasa Mantravadi, ambassador for The Patachou Foundation, a local organization that serves healthy meals to children facing food insecurity
5:50 pm: Miguel Ángel Lopez, PhD, MPH, RDN, Center for Nutrition & Health Impact
6:10 pm: Chef Ann Cooper – Founder of the Chef Ann Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping schools take action so that every child has daily access to fresh, healthy food.
6:30 pm: Panel Discussion
Nancy Kistler Scholarship
The American Academy of Culinary Medicine is pleased to announce the establishment of the Nancy Kistler Scholarship.
When the ACCM launched the Certified Culinary Medicine Professional Course, Chef Kistler was the first participant to enroll. This scholarship honors the life and legacy of Chef Nancy Kistler, commemorating Chef Kistler’s passion for great food and her understanding of the complex relationship of food and health. As an educator with an intellectual curiosity and desire to learn, she valued evidence-based information and demanded excellence from herself and her students. This scholarship will be awarded to a like-minded female chef educator.
Aims: The primary aim of this scholarship is to offer financial support to a current female culinary educator of future culinarians in obtaining the Certified Culinary Medicine Professional designation.
Learn More and Apply Now! Donate to the Scholarship Fund
Please Congratulate Recently Certified Culinary Medicine Professional Graduates
Congratulations to the recent healthcare professionals who have completed the Certified Culinary Medicine Specialist Program.
This represents a significant achievement, with completion of both the courseware as well as sitting for and passing the certification examination.
Certified Culinary Medicine Professionals
| Jennifer Bearce | Chris Mackail |
| Emilia Bermudez | Sonya Seccurro |
| Christina Brockett | Mallory Staley |
| Elizabeth DeRose | Armando Tellez Cruz |
| Krystal Francis | Christine Van Bloem |
| Carlos Leyva Serafin |
Tier III Certificate Graduates
| Kassidy Moore | Jenna Solomon |
| Bethany Clay-Stamps | Angela Bravo |
| Guillermo Garcia |
George Washington University Culinary Medicine Interest Group Journal Club
The medical students at GWU led another of their recurring Journal Club meetings. The topic was the article “The Effect of Daily Avocado Intake on Food and Nutrient Displacement in a Free-Living Population with Abdominal Obesity”
In the coming months the GWU Culinary Medicine Interest Group will be leading more journal club meetings. If you have a paper you would like reviewed, or if you would like to present, email Mahi Bhatt at mahi_bhatt@gwmail.gwu.edu
Please Congratulate Recently Certified Culinary Medicine Specialist Graduates
Congratulations to the recent healthcare professionals who have completed the Certified Culinary Medicine Specialist Program.
This represents a significant achievement, with completion of both the courseware as well as sitting for and passing the certification examination.
| Ryan Brang, MD | Becky Oetting, DO |
| Connie Chuang, MD | Mary Opfer, RDN |
| Nicholas Kreyling, MD | Jennifer Paisley, MD |
| Shari Mermelstein, RDN | Lina Wong, DO |
| Angela Mortland, MD | Amanda Woodworth, RDN |
Save the Date for Health meets Food: The Culinary Medicine Conference 2025!
The 2024 Culinary Medicine conference was amazingly successful and we are looking forward to a great conference in 2025.
There will be an online streaming option using a virtual conference platform that will allow for a conference experience including lectures, expert panels, culinary skills-building programming and small group interactions with your colleagues.
FRIDAY: REBOOT OF FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE
Friday programming will focus on the Food Safety and explore the fundamental information around safety of food in the supply chain, diagnosing and treating foodborne illness, and contaminants in our food.
SATURDAY: CHALLENGES IN CULINARY MEDICINE
Saturday programming will explore the intersection of women’s health, food, and nutrition. Topics will include an exploration of the role of women in nutrition research as well as nutrition and PCOS and nutrition and menopause.
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 are the current issues and impact of nutrition in the food supply chain and how is this affecting our planet?
Featured Speaker: Health meets Food: The Culinary Medicine Conference 2025
Bill Dietz, MD, PhD
George Washington University Global Food Institute
William (Bill) Dietz is the Director of the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University. He is also the Sumner M. Redstone Center Chair.
Dietz is a member of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) and serves as a consultant to the Roundtable on Obesity Solutions. He is the Director of the STOP Obesity Alliance at The George Washington University. He is Co-Chair of the Washington, DC Department of Health’s Diabesity Committee, a Commissioner on the Washington, DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s Healthy Youth & Schools Commission, and Chair of its Subcommittee on Physical Activity. Dietz is also Co-Chair of The Lancet Commission on Obesity.
From 1997-2012, Dietz was the Director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity in the Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Prior to his appointment to the CDC, he was a Professor of Pediatrics at the Tuft’s University School of Medicine, and Director of Clinical Nutrition at the Floating Hospital of New England Medical Center Hospitals. He received his BA from Wesleyan University in 1966 and his MD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1970. After the completion of his residency at Upstate Medical Center, he received a PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981. He is the author of more than 200 publications in the scientific literature, and the editor of five books, including Clinical Obesity in Adults and Children (now in its 2nd edition), and Nutrition: What Every Parent Needs to Know.
Culinary Medicine Research and News
Proposed Nutrition Competencies for Medical Students and Physician Trainees
A Consensus Statement
These competencies represent a US-based effort to use a modified Delphi process to establish consensus on nutrition competencies for medical students and physician trainees. These competencies will require an iterative process of institutional prioritization, refinement, and inclusion in current and future educational curricula as well as licensure and certification examinations.
How a CT health system is teaching a better way of cooking. One ‘student’ lost 55 pounds already.
It’s a hands-on series of classes where 12 people referred by their doctors prepare healthful meals together, talk about ingredients, learn about healthful substitutions and then eat together.
Their teacher is registered dietician and chef, Max Goldstein, and the dean of sorts is medical doctor Nate Wood, director of Culinary Medicine, Yale School of Medicine. Wood is also a professionally trained chef, an unusual career pairing.
Wood, who also works with obesity patients, said lifestyle, including what people eat is the most important factor in health.
“If you eat a solid diet of minimally processed foods or unprocessed foods you can prevent chronic disease,” or even reverse it in some cases, Wood said.
Video: Free, hands-on classes offered to patients at Yale New Haven Health teaching kitchen in North Haven
A new teaching kitchen at YNHH is making nutritional advice more digestible. At the site in North Haven, patients are putting nutritional plans into action.
A Recipe For Successful Food Is Medicine Programs: Food Plus People
Food-based interventions aimed at improving health — collectively referred to as Food Is Medicine (FIM)—are increasingly recognized within the health care system as an essential approach to preventing and managing chronic diseases. While nutrition has been identified as a pillar of health for centuries, the urgency to address patients’ nutritional needs and food access as part of a medical standard of care has recently garnered significant national attention. In 2022, the White House convened a conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health; and in 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services hosted the inaugural Food Is Medicine Summit, which engaged government, health care, for-profit, and nonprofit companies to drive forward much-needed solutions.
Course helps future doctors engage with food as medicine
Medical students gain real-world experience on how to use food to help patients avoid a lifetime of health problems.
For people fighting illness, the right nutrition can make a world of difference. A new course in the University of Kansas School of Medicine demonstrates how food can be medicinal — especially for those with allergies. Taken a step further, it’s about teaching medical students the role of nutrition in wellness and how to communicate solutions to patients who struggle with access to healthy food.
Is sesame oil good for you? Here’s why you should pick it up at your next grocery haul.
Regular sesame oil is produced by pressing raw sesame seeds, says Jessica Vanroo, CCMP, the executive chef for the University of California, Irvine’s Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute. Toasted sesame oil is made by pressing toasted sesame seeds.
Are Chickpea and Bean Pastas Good for You?
You can’t go wrong eating foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains to get your nutrients, said Emily Haller, a dietitian and lifestyle and culinary medicine program coordinator at Trinity Health in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Legume pastas, however, “are not growing off trees or bushes,” Ms. Haller said; they are inherently processed. But that doesn’t necessarily make them bad for you. Research comparing them with their whole-food counterparts is thin, but experts said they largely offer the same nutritional benefits.
Migraine & Diet: Foods That Could Be Triggering Your Pain
For migraines, caffeine is a mixed bag. “Caffeine, for many people, is commonly considered to be a trigger food for migraine headaches. However, for others, a cup of coffee or soda is often a sign of quick relief on the way,” says Amy Moyer, M.Ed., RDN, LDN, CCMS, director of Culinary Medicine at the University of North Carolina–Greensboro.
The Culinary Medicine Roundtable: Past, Present and Future Recording
The recording of this past month’s roundtable is now available for viewing.
After registering you will be enrolled in the course and materials for the roundtable will be available to you. The topic is Culinary Medicine: Past, Present and Future. Speakers from across the country who are active in the Culinary Medicine movement spoke about the origins of programming, the current state of the art, and a glimpse of what the future holds.
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.
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.
American College of Culinary Medicine Clothing and Swag
We are excited to announce the availability of 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.
