Helene M. Langevin, M.D.
September 29, 2023

Traditionally, knowing how to procure and prepare safe, nutritious, and palatable food is learned at home. Unfortunately, this knowledge is becoming less and less passed down through the generations. Fast food, ready-made meals, and takeout have become so convenientand families rely on them so muchthat many children today, and even in previous generations, have grown up without learning how to cook. These factors are among the many fueling high rates of obesity and poor nutritional status in the United States, and associated chronic conditions linked to poor nutrition, like type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Enter teaching kitchens: a nationwide movement to teach cooking skills that is taking hold in community settings. Over the summer, I had the opportunity to attend the inaugural Convening on Teaching Kitchens and Food Is Medicine, co-hosted by theTeaching Kitchen Collaborative (TKC)and Google, and supported by the Ardmore Institute of Health. Founded by Dr. David Eisenberg, TKCaims to promote better health by helping people gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence to cook healthy foods at home, and is designed to interrupt the cascade of factors that contribute to chronic health conditions like diabetes and heart disease. Attendees included representatives from theU.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, who shared how they are applying the approach through their ownHealthy Teaching Kitchenprogram to help veterans promote better health.