IN-PERSON WORKSHOP: Food Skills, Community, and Habits - A Culturally Responsive Culinary Medicine Workshop

DIDACTIC EDUCATION SESSION - NO HANDS-ON COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS - WILL NOT BE HELD IN TEACHING KITCHEN

Workshop Description: Despite strong evidence supporting nutrition and lifestyle interventions, sustained dietary behavior change remains difficult to achieve in clinical and community settings. Nutrition counseling often emphasizes dietary recommendations without sufficiently addressing three interdependent drivers of change: 1. practical culinary skills , social connection and community, and behavior-change processes that support habit formation (Jasmol) . These challenges are compounded when interventions are not culturally responsive to the values, food traditions, and lived experiences of the individuals and families they aim to serve.

This interactive workshop intentionally combines (1) practical culinary skill-building, (2) connection and community through shared learning, and (3) evidence-informed behavior change strategies to support sustainable habit formation. The workshop reframes nutrition guidance away from prescriptive food rules toward culturally meaningful skill development that fits within real-world home environments.

Participants will engage in hands-on culinary skill activities that build cooking confidence and food acceptance using adaptable techniques informed by diverse cultural foodways. These experiences are embedded within peer-supported, collaborative learning environments that demonstrate how shared culinary practices strengthen motivation, trust, and accountability particularly in family-centered and pediatric contexts. Behavior change tools, including small-goal design and reflective practices, are integrated alongside culinary instruction to illustrate how culturally aligned skills and social support translate into repeatable, sustainable habits.

Emphasis is placed on practical implementation under real-world constraints, including time, budget, food access, and family dynamics. Through experiential learning and applied case examples, participants will explore how this culturally responsive, integrated approach can be adapted for outpatient care, group visits, teaching kitchens, and community-based programs without increasing clinician burden.

Attendees will leave with clear, practical strategies demonstrating how culturally informed culinary skills, community connection, and behavior change when intentionally combined can transform nutrition guidance into sustainable, life-integrated habit and serve as a pathway toward narrowing diet-related health inequities.