Over my 30 year career as a food and nutrition professional, I’ve never felt more relevant and “hip” than I do right now. The field of “food and nutrition” is having its biggest moment in years. Food is THE topic of conversation in nearly every area of dietetics and health care in a real and meaningful way. Here in Michigan and across the globe, the excitement is being powered by a large and growing “food as medicine” movement.

I’m thrilled to see that professionals and laypeople alike are elevating and prioritizing food, “real food” for all. And I’m especially pleased to see an emphasis on using medically appropriate food to prevent, manage, and treat diet-related health conditions. Over 30 years, our understanding of diet-related diseases has continued to grow. In 1995, the science around the root causes of hypertension, obesity, heart disease and diabetes was in its infancy. Now professionals across the health care spectrum understand that food quality and environments work in conjunction to help or harm. Dietary intake is not the only factor.

Also 30 years ago, we were just starting to discuss the “social determinants of health,” and today we have a large body of research showing how personal experiences shape our lifelong health. Where you live, how much money your family has, the reliability of your next meal, the confidence you’ll have a home to live in—all have an impact on your health. Clean air, water, and soil, along with a robust and quality public health network, matter to everyone’s health every day.

Other trends I’m excited to see: Food and nutrition professionals are having important conversations with health care professionals about farming and farming systems—conversations we’ve never had to this depth and purpose. And nutrition and health education for everyone at all stages of life is empowering everyday people and is more available than ever before.

Groundwork launched its Farms, Food, and Health program in 2014 to connect the dots between how local food is grown, the quality of that food, and the impact that food can have in improving human health. Back then, I often heard this type of work referred to as “fringe” and “unserious.” What a difference a decade makes. Today, there are many food folks out there like me ready to support health education and work to reduce the many ways food and food environments are harming our neighbors and friends. One of the best events where culinary medicine professionals meet is the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative Symposium. The Teaching Kitchen Collaboration (TKC) hosts the symposium, and it also supports a global network that improves lives through transformative culinary and lifestyle education.

TKC members come from such settings as medical, community, school, and corporate and are united by a shared question: What can we achieve together that we cannot accomplish on our own? Groundwork has been an organizational member since 2024 and is mission-aligned to build a thriving community by bringing together culinary medicine professionals to share best practices, exchange ideas, and grow teaching kitchens worldwide. Members connect and share evidence-based insights across public, private, and nonprofit sectors, grounding teaching kitchen programs in the latest science. advocating for changes in food and health systems. These are all important parts of building community resilience.   

Last year was a special moment. The Teaching Kitchen Collaborative celebrated a decade of hard work to integrate food and medicine. The health care industry is now also stepping up. And today, people throughout Michigan, the United States, and around the planet are asking to learn and understand more about the many ways food connects us to thriving and being well—thanks in large part to the Collaborative.

For Groundwork, the Esperance Community Teaching Kitchen, opened in 2023, is the latest example of our moving forward in the important field of Culinary Medicine. We are shepherding the kitchen launch and culinary medicine programming as an expansion of our Farms, Food, and Health Project. The teaching kitchen is an educational space that promotes the importance of local food and cooking traditions to cultivate and nurture individual and community wellness. We envision the kitchen as a space where people connect, share, and learn fundamental skills about cooking and eating culturally appropriate, locally accessible, and nutritious food.

Teaching kitchens are at the crossroads of the food as medicine movement, and exploring this crossroads was at the heart of the 2025 Teaching Kitchen Collaborative Symposium. The summit was held in December 2025 at 1440 Multiversity. The site was chosen because it’s also where the Collaborative had its very first brainstorming session 10 years prior. The venue is a philanthropic learning destination nestled in the California redwoods. Organizers offered us an immersive conference, with movement, meditation, culinary nutrition, and exploration in nature. The air was fresh and the sky clear. It was a time for me to explore, learn, reflect, and reenergize. I felt it a gift to reconnect with myself and others through meaningful conversations that shape how we accomplish hard tasks.

I’m more determined and hopeful about the future of the food and nutrition profession than I’ve been in years, and there is a good reason many dietitians, chefs, doctors, health educators, and researchers, (and more) are all together, collaborating, and learning. And it’s working. Extra good news, dietitians and other nutrition professionals are engaged in every one of my top takeaways from my time at the TKC symposium.

Paula Martin is Groundwork’s Community Nutrition Specialist.
paula.martin@groundworkcenter.org