Zest: The Health meets Food Newsletter
September 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.
Mediterranean Culinary Concepts
The Mediterranean Culinary Concepts Conference is the premiere program designed to provide practical insights and authentic products.
In collaboration with the Mediterranean Diet Roundtable, the American College of Culinary Medicine will offer a unique conference October 8th and 9th, 2024.
This will include interactive culinary sessions, educational programming, and curated flavor exploration to create the Architecture of your signature Mediterranean Diet menu! Learn from world-class researchers, celebrity chefs, and marketing experts how to operationalize and implement unique concepts designed to engage, excite, and educate.
Don’t miss this exciting program!
Location
Seva Teaching Kitchen at GWU
1810 K Street NW, Washington, DC, 20006
Tickets: $250
Agenda
Tuesday October 8
12:00 – 2:00 pm: Registration and arrival of guests
Flavor Exploration B2B and Concept Showcase with Mediterranean Retail Experience
2:00 – 2:10 pm: Welcoming remarks
2:10 – 2:20 pm: Welcome to the MCC! A Culturally Inspired Approach – Daniela Puglielli, MDR® founder
2:20 – 2:50 pm: The Science behind the Mediterranean Diet – Prof. Miguel Ruiz-Canela, University of Navarra, Spain. Discovering the nutraceutical power behind Mediterranean Food.
2:50 – 3:30 pm: Antonia Trichopoulou, MD, PhD on the Mediterranean Diet.
Regarded as one of the top experts in the world, Dr. Antonia Trichopoulou, president of the Hellenic Health Foundation and full member of the Academy of Athens, will deliver the keynote speech.
3:30 – 3:50 pm: Break (with Tea Rituals) (Mountain Tea – Herbal teas from Greece and Moroccan Tea)
3:50 – 4:30 pm: Chef Cat Cora.
First female Iron Chef, award winning professional, author, restaurateur and more. A conversation with one of the most influential female culinary authorities in America. Moderator: Dr. Timothy Harlan, of the American College of Culinary Medicine.
4:30 – 5:00 pm: Roundtable Q&A
5:00 – 6:00 pm: Networking with Wine & Tapas
Wednesday October 9
9:00 – 9:30 am: The mastery of Promoting Food & Wine. Prof. Simonetta Pattuglia, University Tor Vergata, Rome (Italy).
9:30 – 10:00 am: Updates on the FDA current regulations. Food Policy and regulations important to explore and promote authentic Mediterranean Cuisine.
10 am – noon: Demo Tastings, Comparative Tastings, & Hands On Classes
Group (A) Hands-on Pasta
Group (B) From Cretan Diet to Mezze
Group (C) Flavor Exploration- Olive Oil Tasting & Spices
Group (D) Spanish Cuisine and Tapas
Group (E) North African Cuisine
Culinary Medicine at Le Moyne: The Possibilities are Endless
By Karen Joseph, MPH
“I completely fell in love with the curriculum,” Mary gushes. “It has videos, evidence-based research articles, patient information, and even quizzes!” Determined to bring the comprehensive Health meets Food (HmF) curriculum to her school, Le Moyne College, Mary Springston leveraged a federally funded grant to secure the American College of Culinary Medicine’s (ACCM) curriculum and made it happen.
At Le Moyne College, a private Jesuit institution in Syracuse, NY, the 24-month Physician Assistant (PA) program stands out for its dedication to cura personalis, Latin for ‘caring for the whole person.’ Mary recognized the alignment between the PA program’s framework– which integrates biological, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions – and the HmF curriculum right away and saw how its emphasis on healthy eating and cooking could enrich her PA program. With over 30 years of experience as a Physician Assistant, Mary, now the Director of Clinical Advancement and Clinical Associate Professor, is dedicated to ensuring that her students graduate with a deeply comprehensive and nourishing approach to patient care.
Before rolling out the HmF curriculum at Le Moyne, Mary knew it was essential to first engage her colleagues across the institution. She invited faculty from all health disciplines, including nursing, occupational therapy, physician assistant studies, and mental health, to partake in the curriculum training led by Kerri Dotson of the ACCM. Kerri traveled to the Salt City Test Kitchen – formerly a restaurant incubator called “With Love” that showcased a new “Entrepreneur in Residence” every 6 months – in Syracuse, NY, for the in-person training. To date, there have been three in-person curriculum training workshops at the Salt City Test Kitchen, where they felt right at home amidst the other educators, aspiring chefs, and food entrepreneurs occupying the vibrant culinary hub. Mary also led one of the curriculum training workshops online. “It’s great to be part of the community here,” she reflects, chuckling at the irony of learning about healthy food and cooking practices in a city famous for its “salt potatoes.”
The Health meets Food curriculum training was a HIT! One participant enthusiastically remarked, “This is exceptional,” while another added, “We’ve never had SO MUCH FUN learning.” The training workshops delivered not only hands-on cooking experiences but also fostered unparalleled collaboration among faculty across disciplines. Post-workshop evaluations revealed that enthusiasm for the HmF curriculum extends beyond the healthcare professionals themselves; many of their patients expressed a strong desire to learn how to teach others about healthy eating and cooking after hearing about it. This widespread interest highlights the HmF curriculum’s capacity to drive meaningful health improvements and disease prevention within various communities. The interactive nature of the HmF curriculum training helped bridge gaps between departments, and sparked a vision to integrate healthy food and cooking practices into health programs beyond just the PAs. There’s a palpable excitement about the HmF curriculum’s potential to grow and impact even more lives.
Despite the enthusiasm and success of the curriculum training, integrating the HmF curriculum into the existing PA program at Le Moyne poses challenges, Mary admits. The PA program’s curriculum traditionally includes limited nutrition content, requiring her to find creative ways to incorporate the HmF curriculum, weaving its food and cooking education into classes where nutrition had been overlooked. To tackle this, she’s been integrating the food and nutrition-centric HmF curriculum modules into the PA classes she teaches in person and online to make the most of the available resources. “If I can get more PA faculty to experience this curriculum, they might be open to finding places to integrate it in their classes,” Mary muses. The spark ignited by the HmF curriculum training continues to grow, with Mary now envisioning how it can enhance the PA’s supervised clinical practice experiences and enrich additional areas like counseling, public health courses, and medical humanities.
The absence of a dedicated kitchen at Le Moyne also presents obstacles. Mary and her team have been exploring solutions, including seeking funding for new kitchen facilities. “I’m getting a lot of support,” Mary notes. “I hope, within a few years, we can break ground on a new kitchen on campus.” In the mean time, they’ll continue to teach classes online and utilize community spaces, like the Salt City Test Kitchen. Because while the virtual workshops are great, “Something special happens when you actually bring people together to cook and enjoy a meal,” she reflects.
With a $2 million PA Primary Care Training Grant, Mary’s vision for the HmF curriculum reaches beyond the walls of Le Moyne College. She’s determined to bring this transformative education to rural areas of upstate New York, where healthy food options and nutritional knowledge are often lacking. “People think of upstate New York as having plenty of food access, but many rural areas here lack healthy options,” Mary notes. She envisions PA students using the HmF curriculum during their supervised clinical practice experiences to educate communities like Adams, near the 1000 Islands, on the importance of healthy eating. “I want our students to bring healthy recipes and wellness education to places like Adams,” she says. Mary’s certain that after successful completion of the HmF curriculum, her students will have the knowledge and confidence to integrate delicious food that just happens to be nutritious into their PA practices and make a lasting impact in every community they serve.
Mary’s journey to embed the Health Meets Food curriculum into Le Moyne’s PA program, with seamless buy-in from her colleagues and strong backing from the college administration – including the dean and the director of her PA program who both participated in the curriculum training – highlights the transformative power of firsthand experience. Because now that her educators have experienced HmF’s curriculum, there’s no need for persuasion: they see the value and are already compelled to act. She’s hopeful that in time, the Health Meets Food curriculum will find its way into every possible corner of healthcare education at Le Moyne and beyond. Mary’s work is a testament to the idea that the most effective advocacy often begins with simply letting people see the possibilities for themselves.
ACCM Committee Updates
The American College of Culinary Medicine supports many committees including the Advisory Board committees:
1. Certification Committee is led by Dr. Andy Vaughn and supervises the Certified Culinary Medicine Specialist exam
2. Clinical Practice Committee led by Dr. David Dungan. The committee helps organize information for those practicing Culinary Medicine.
3. The Communications Committee helps organize periodic Culinary Medicine roundtables and the yearly conference as well as ACCM messaging.
4. The Standards Committee leads efforts around standardizing Culinary Medicine programming.
In addition there are four other committees:
5. The Curriculum Committee led by Dr. Kathryn Balaram and focuses on both new content and course revisions for the Health meets Food curriculum.
6. The Dietetics Committee is leading efforts at bring Culinary Medicine programming to dietetics programs. Dr. Amy Moyer leads the initiative.
6. Dr. Jaclyn Albin leads our new GME committee and is working on toolkits and program support for graduate medical education.
8. In the coming months the team will be standing up a Culinary Medicine Interest Group Committee. The goal is the committee is to provide information, support and toolkits for student groups at schools across the country.
If you are interested in participating, please reach out to culinarymedicine@icloud.com and the team will route your request to the respective committee chair.
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.
The conference will take place in June 5 through June 8, 2025 in the Washington, DC metro area.
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 food borne 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
Tara Scully, PhD
George Washington University Global Food Institute
Tara A. Scully is the Director of the Sustainability Minor Program and an Assistant Professor of Biology at the George Washington University. At GW, she regularly teaches introductory biology and sustainability courses and laboratories to non-science majors. She teaches seven different courses, four in biology for non-science majors which are lab and service-based and three signature courses in sustainability program. The Biology of Nutrition and Health; The Ecology and Evolution of Organisms; Food, Nutrition, and Service; Understanding Organisms through Service Learning; Introduction to Sustainability; Culminating Experience in Sustainability, and World on a Plate by Chef José Andrés.
Dr. Scully received her MS, specializing in forensic science research with a concentration on fiber evidence and a PhD with a research focus on developmental biology from The George Washington University. She has authored many research articles along with the book: Discovering Biology in the Lab: An Introductory Laboratory Manual as well as Why We Eat Food. Dr. Scully works with many different DMV area community partners on topics ranging from nutrition to invasive species. Her service and instructional work has resulted in being awarded the university-wide Faculty Engagement Award 2016 from the Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service and the 2019 Morton Bender Teaching Award.
Job Posting: Manager of Education for the Food and Health Policy Center : Jamaica Plain, MA
Community Servings’ mission is to actively engage the community to provide medically tailored, nutritious, scratch-made meals to chronically and critically ill individuals and their families. In addition, we are committed to prioritizing racial and economic justice and health equity in all our programs and business practices.
We are a dynamic and fast-growing agency at the forefront of the “Food is Medicine” field, providing over 1M medically tailored meals annually to clients and their families experiencing illness and food insecurity in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. In addition, our work strongly focuses on supporting the regional local food system, delivering high-quality nutrition education to the community, and hosting an on-site food-service workforce development program. Over the past 34 years, the agency has provided 13M+ free, scratch-made meals.
Culinary Medicine Research and News
Integrating nutrition and culinary medicine into preclinical medical training
This study evaluated the nutrition and culinary medicine curriculum at a new college of osteopathic medicine. Students rated the program highly and attendance was excellent, even though not required. Student diet quality did not decline over the first year of medical school. Students rated talking to patients about nutrition as highly relevant, providing encouragement that they will do so in future practice. We believe our work shows that nutrition can be integrated into the training of future physicians and that it may pay dividends, particularly with the increasing awareness of the importance of preventive care.
Follow These Steps to Tasty, Healthy School Lunches
School lunches have gotten healthier since last April, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture released new guidelines that lower sugar and salt levels and focus on whole grains.
Still, packing lunch at home can be a good choice if you want more control over what your child eats during the day, said Dr. Jaclyn Albin, an associate professor of internal medicine, pediatrics and public health at UT Southwestern School of Medicine.
Easy, nutritious meal tips for the back-to-school season from an expert
A certified culinary medicine specialist is sharing easy ways to add healthy meals into the routine.
“We’re all working; we’re all busy,” said Jessica DeLouise, a physician assistant and certified culinary medicine specialist in eastern Pennsylvania. “Our kids sometimes are a bit more picky when they’re selecting food, so do the best you can.”
Yale New Haven Health’s teaching kitchen in North Haven is making dietary information more digestible
“This is the hands-on learning that you don’t necessarily get to do in your regular doctor or dietician appointment. It’s not meant to replace those appointments but kind of compliment the things that they’re learning about,” said Chef Max Goldstein, a registered dietician who teaches the classes offered by the health system free of charge to its patients.
Sowela to offer evidence-based culinary medicine program
“Food is a central focus in Louisiana, and the culture and tradition of Cajun cuisine is known throughout the world,” said Sowela Chancellor Neil Aspinwall. “However, the act of choosing and preparing food can have positive as well as negative effects on individual health. The addition of a Culinary Medicine concentration into our regular culinary program allows the College to help promote healthy lifestyles through the science of nutrition and food preparation.”
Springfield-area women making a difference in improving health for everyone
Dr. Stacy Sattovia is professor of internal medicine. She received the award for her work in culinary medicine, a discipline that combines the art of food and cooking with the sciences of nutrition, medicine and healing. Her team’s work has created great enthusiasm among our students.
UAMS’ HCOP Academy Holds First Summer Session for High School Seniors
Students received an up-close look at some of those options during a visit to Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff. They toured several departments and observed demonstrations from health professionals in radiology, respiratory therapy and medical laboratory science.
The students also took a trip to the UAMS campus in Little Rock, where they spent an afternoon in the Culinary Medicine Kitchen. While trying their hand at cooking dishes such as cauliflower fried rice and black bean brownies, they learned about how dieticians help their patients make healthier food choices.
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.
