I love food and not just in the “I love to eat it” way. I love to cook food and to invent new recipes; to learn how different components work together; to teach others in a hands-on approach in the kitchen, to discover foods healing properties and to share food's magic with the world, especially kids. I started cooking at the age of 4 years; worked in a bakery throughout high school and some college, was a cook/sous chef in restaurants in Canada, and then went on to get my PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry from Tufts University. So you see, I know about food from all directions.
Simply put, food can heal and prevent disease. Besides the scientific properties found in whole foods, food connects us to each other and we are all starving for this connection. My mission is to help children, individuals, communities, businesses and the healthcare sector to demystify food. In today's world many people fear food and are in a constant state of confusion about what to eat. The message is simple- following a whole foods diet like the Mediterranean diet is the best thing one can do for their health today and in the future.
I worked at Tufts Human Nutrition Research Center for Aging, Yale’s Prevention Research Center, Babies and Children’s Hospital at NY Presbyterian, Cornell University and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. I have worked with very sick individuals and with those struggling day to day to make what they think are the right food choices. I have been on the front line of the emerging new field of science- Culinary Medicine where: * I was the 1st Chair of Best Practices with the national Teaching Kitchen Collaborative (CIA-run) *I created a Weight & Wellness Center at DHMC, which included culinary classes *I worked with the CIA in San Antonio Texas where the children hospital built a teaching kitchen * I am created and taught Culinary Medicine courses at the New England Culinary Institute * I am creating Culinary medicine courses at other universities and building teaching kitchens/cooking opportunities in hospitals and schools
My mission in life is to help people discover that their health is their choice; that it is the small decisions we make every day that adds up to us, and our children, walking down a path of health or away from it. I am doing what I love to do and am happy to work with so many other visionaries and leaders in all sectors of society to make eating a pleasurable and healthy experience for all.
