On May 30, Vetri Community Partnership teamed up with Villanova University College of Nursing’s MacDonald Center for Nutrition Education and Research (MCNER) to offer a CPEU (Continuing Professional Education Units)-credit program called Culinary Medicine 101. Thirty-two registered dietitians and nutrition educators joined the event at the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing on Villanova’s campus.
Participants came from Penn State, Harrisburg, and as far as Florida to learn about Culinary Medicine as a field of practice, and best practices for integrating it into patient care. The session covered evidence-based strategies for educating and motivating people to make sustainable dietary changes through practical food-based interventions.
Culinary Medicine educators from Vetri Community Partnership illustrated how to connect experiential learning to nutrition concepts for the general public and healthcare practitioners. We detailed our design and delivery of nutrition education through hands-on cooking, allowing participants to experience sample lessons from the Cooking for Heart Health series.
Together, participants made Veggie Fajitas with Cilantro Lime Slaw, Pico de Gallo, and Chili Lime Fruit paired with Olive Oil Cornmeal Cake, which everyone then ate together. After lunch, groups collaborated to create a nutrition education messaging tool based on recipes for various audiences.
One participant said it’d be the fastest ride home to Penn State she’d ever made because so many ideas were speeding through her head after the session.
Seeing how to apply proven theory and behavior change models in hands-on education, centering the joy of cooking, and the enjoyment of delicious food is motivating people to make changes for better health. Vetri Community Partnership is proud to be a part of this change.
