Planting Seeds, Growing Students: Building Foundations for Interdisciplinary Health Promotion

This session highlights an example of interprofessional collaboration between RDNs and other health professionals through experiential learning opportunities related to local, sustainable food systems and culinary nutrition. At the University of Illinois at Chicago, future RDNs lead nutrition-focused cooking courses for medical and dental students while utilizing ingredients grown on campus in the UIC Nutrition Teaching Garden. This outdoor classroom garden space highlights the importance of growing food in the urban environment to incorporate the concepts of sustainability, seasonality, and culinary creativity as we prepare nutrient dense meals which can be replicated in many settings. Courses like these sow the seeds for future collaboration and educational opportunities between RDNs and health practitioners to promote more healthful cooking and eating practices. This session features a cooking demonstration showing proper knife skills and how to transform locally grown produce into a simple condiment that RDNs, patients and doctors alike can incorporate into their personal cooking routines.

CPE Level: Level 2 (intermediate knowledge/experience)
CPEU: 1

Performance Indicators

• 2.3.4 Identifies opportunities for mutually beneficial partnerships with individuals or organizations with shared visions.
• 9.4.4 Selects and uses appropriate content and teaching methods to meet individual and group needs
• 8.5.3 Uses a variety of cooking techniques, food preparation methods and production and delivery systems.

Learning Objectives

• Describe how dietitians can use nutrition education and interaction to foster relationships with other health professionals
• Explain how sustainable food systems can be incorporated into health care curriculum to foster interprofessional relationships
• Perform proper knife skills to emphasize ingredients grown in a local, sustainable food system

Moderator

• Tina Lam, MS, RDN, LDN, CDCES

Speakers

• Renea Lyles, MS, RDN, LDN