BNMC’s 2nd Annual Food As Medicine Symposium
By Madeleine Kates
The second annual Food As Medicine Symposium was held last month in Buffalo. Presented by the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC), with funding from Highmark Health, the Food As Medicine initiative began last year as a means for helping members of our community attain optimal health.
“Food is the number one cause of poor health,” said keynote speaker Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, dean of policy at Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, while discussing the cost of chronic but preventable diseases directly caused by diet.
This year’s theme, “A Bridge To Health,” focused on getting healthy and nutritious food into the hands of residents, teaching them how to prepare it, and getting them excited about meals. Another important goal is to help community members become ambassadors in spreading the word about their nutritional successes.
“Getting to the people who need the information is the key to success,” said Broderick Cason, Univera Healthcare community engagement and program manager. Cason explained the importance of teaching about healthy eating, while remembering to keep choice and dignity in mind when creating food prescriptions, cooking medically-prepared meals, and teaching the community about nutrition. He said, “Foods should be prepared in familiar ways to make the meals something to look forward to and culturally appropriate.”
Dr. David Eisenberg, Director of Culinary Nutrition and a professor of nutrition at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, discussed the use of teaching kitchens. These kitchens bridge the gap for patients receiving a food prescription or those looking to learn about nutrition. They are a place where patients and communities can learn hands-on techniques for cooking and preparing meals from scratch alongside chefs, nutritional experts, and medical professionals.
“Teaching people nutrition without a kitchen is like teaching surgeons without an operating room or teaching people to swim without a pool,” says Eisenberg. These teaching kitchens focus on skills such as how to shop for healthy ingredients, break down fresh whole foods, and even incorporate lifestyle medicine elements such as mindfulness, exercise, sleep, behavior change, and the importance of movement in maintaining health.
This year’s symposium also pulled back the curtain on the idea that foods labeled in ways to confuse consumers, such as “low calorie,” “fat-free,” or “vitamin-fortified,” are healthy and acceptable replacements for whole foods such as fruits and vegetables, and highlighted the need for nutrition education, and for medical professionals, communities, and patients to take responsibility for their health, starting with the food they purchase and the meals they prepare.
Madeleine Kates is studying for her MPH through the University of Manchester, UK. She recently graduated from Niagara University with a degree in Environmental Science, Life Science, and Psychology. She holds a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University.
