SPHHS Launches Inaugural Healthcare Culinary Conference
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On June 5-6, the School of Public Health and Health Sciences welcomed a group of 40 healthcare professionals, including community health workers, dietitians and cooks from Project Bread, Revitalize CDC, Meals on Wheels, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, and the VA, to campus for its inaugural Healthcare Culinary Conference: Bridging Healthcare, Food and Community. The event – sponsored by Fallon Health and held in conjunction with the 30th annual Chef Culinary Conference hosted by UMass Dining – served as a model for academic- and community-led efforts to improve health outcomes, alleviate food insecurity, and promote the “food is medicine” movement.
“We were delighted to reach our target capacity for this inaugural conference,” says Anna Maria Siega-Riz, dean of the School of Public Health and Health Sciences and a renowned expert in maternal and child nutrition. “The excitement from our participants and speakers to share information and learn from each other was palpable from the start.”
On the conference’s first day, participants convened to hear talks from keynote speaker, Chef Michel Nischan, co-founder and chair of Wholesome Wave, a nonprofit food-equity organization; nutrition experts Lorraine Cordeiro and Kurt Hager; and Dean Siega-Riz. The speakers discussed topics of food access, food insecurity, MassHealth Flexible services, and the evolution of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A panel discussion provided insights on how to tailor dietary guideline messages to patients for various conditions and how healthcare providers can play a pivotal role in supporting community food programs.
That evening, participants joined the main Chef Culinary Conference banquet which showcased the amazing, delicious and healthy foods prepared by UMass Dining.
The second day of the conference showcased food science experts David Julian McClements and Alissa Nolden, as well as community partners and consultants such as Milton Stokes, senior director of Food and Nutrition for the International Food Information Council. The speakers discussed topics including consumer perceptions of health and food trends, the importance of sensory aspects of food, and emerging plant-based foods. They were followed by a panel of community partners who work closely with the university’s food is medicine programs. They provided the healthcare professionals with a greater understanding of what programs are available to their patients, and how to help their patients access them.
“It was a great conference!” said an attendee who works in the food service industry. “The quality and scope of the speakers you cultivated was inspiring! We can’t say enough great things about the hospitality of you and your colleagues as well.”
For many of the attendees, the conference was highlighted by a pair of hands-on experiences that bookended the two-day event: morning tours of Grow Food Northampton’s Crimson and Clover Farm and the UMass Agricultural Learning Center kicked the conference off, and then the conference closed out with cooking activities led by award-winning chefs Ana Jaramillo, Nyanyika Banda, Breana Killeen, and Michel Nischan, which ended with a culminating meal highlighting different cultural and/or economic constraint dishes.
“Thank you so much for the inaugural Healthcare Culinary Conference experience,” says an attendee who works as a registered dietitian at UMass Chan Medical School. “It was an amazing and valuable conference. I especially enjoyed the cooking workshops!”
“Food is connection, culture, and community,” adds Megan Patton-Lopez, a senior lecturer in nutrition and conference co-organizer. “I am grateful for conversations and connections made during the two-day event. I am excited to see what future collaborations lead to as we work to improve access to nutritious and culturally preferred foods.”
The school plans to host the conference again next year in the second week of June.
