COURSE DESCRIPTION
Fundamentals of Culinary Medicine teaches students the practical skills to realistically apply nutrition concepts to impact their own life and those around them though great tasting food that happens to be good for them. This course provides a comprehensive overview of nutrition and application of nutrition principles through culinary medicine. The course includes hands-on cooking classes, didactic lectures, guest speakers and field trips. Topics covered include basic nutrition concepts, evaluating research, recipe development and modification, food security and barriers to healthy eating, inflammation and an anti-inflammatory diet, food allergies and intolerances, and food policy.
COURSE FORMAT
Class are held in-person at the Seva Teaching Kitchen. The course will include hands-on cooking sessions, didactic lectures, guest speakers, and field trips.
AUDIENCE
The course is appropriate for undergraduate students who are interested in learning about and improving their own, culinary skills, nutrition literacy, and/or health and for students seeking careers in medicine, health, and nutrition.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Students completing this course will be able to:1) Apply culinary medicine principles to create balanced meals that demonstrate principles of a Mediterranean diet; 2) Develop written content and recipes to communicate nutrition concepts through a food first perspective; 3) Assess validity of nutrition research; 4) Evaluate barriers to healthy eating
TIME COMMITMENT
This is a three-credit undergraduate course. The semester is 15 weeks. Required reading and preparation outside of class is expected to require, on average, 4 hours per week. Instruction, including class sessions, will require 2.5 hours per week. Projects I and II are expected to take 5 hours outside of class time and the Final project is expected to take 10 hours of outside class time. The total student time commitment is estimated to be 112.5 hours (7.5 hours per week for 15 weeks).
REQUIRED READING
Book: Essentials of Nutrition for Chefs – 3rd edition, Catharine Powers, MS, RD, LD, Mary Abbott Hess, LHD, MS, RD, LDN, FADA
