The Joy of Cooking, The Science of Eating Well

To kick off Reimagine’s food series, a stellar group of chefs, nutritionists, dietitians, and physicians share their expertise in culinary medicine, the art and science of helping people to access and eat delicious and nutritious meals that prevent and treat disease, restore well-being, and ultimately feed the soul. Speakers include Drew Ramsey, author and leading proponent of nutritional psychiatry; Sharon Kai’ulani Odom, nutritionist and program director of the Roots Cafe at Kōkua Kalihi Valley, a Hawaiian community health center that uses indigenous foods to heal and alleviate suffering; and Angela Roberson, lead dietitian for Food Rx at Baltimore’s Medstar Good Samaritan Hospital which supports patients with multiple complex chronic conditions and/or food insecurity. The event’s moderator is Rebecca Katz, a nationally recognized culinary translator and expert on the role of food in supporting health and wellbeing.

This program is part of the February 2023 Reimagine Series “Food as Medicine: From Adversity to Abundance”, in which participants explore how both food and the hospitality industry transform loss into new pathways for growth and health.

Speakers

Rebecca Katz, MS

Rebecca is a nationally recognized culinary translator and expert on the role of food in supporting health and wellbeing. As a consultant, speaker, teacher and chef, Rebecca has spent 22 years working closely with patients, caregivers and wellness professionals to include the powerful elements of flavor and nutrition in their healing tool kit. Rebecca’s life has been a series of explorations in search of meaning, inspiration and healing. She plays with flavor, color and texture to connect nutrition science to the plate, and pioneered an intelligent, novel and delicious use of food in the treatment of cancer. She is the author of seven cookbooks including the award-winning The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen: Nourishing Big-Flavor Recipes for Cancer Treatment and Beyond (Ten Speed Press, 2009, 2017), and The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen online course. She cooks and paints in Marin County, California. https://www.rebeccakatz.com/

Sharon Ka’iulani Odom, RD, MPH

Kaiulani Odom has been involved in the area of native Hawaiian Health for the past 25 years. She has developed educational media for print, television and screen. Her specialty is in `Ai Kupele, nutrition from a cultural perspective. Her work involves communities, schools, and most importantly families. During the last 10 years, in an effort to expand her perspective on health, she has been immersed in the study of ho‘oponopono, lā‘au lapa‘au and lomilomi. It is her goal to support native Hawaiian communities to connect with the `ike and practices passed down by their ancestors, fostering healthy lifestyles for future generations.

Kaiulani currently works for Kokua Kalihi Valley Health Center as the ROOTS program Director. ROOTS goal is to bring community members together as a part of a larger social network. Centering around food as a source of nourishment, identity, and connection, project activities build bonds between community members as they cultivate food and medicine, cook together, share traditional practices for food preparation, and eat together in common spaces. The concept of malama `äina (to care for the land) refers to a reciprocal relationship. For the land to supply food and sustenance, we must in turn take care of it. Teaching the community about the culture and wisdom of their ancestors provides a natural segue into education on nutrition and healthy living. Appreciating your heritage is a healthy practice in itself…through honoring our culture and ancestors, we honor ourselves. https://www.rootskalihi.com/roots-cafe-roots-kkv

Drew Ramsey, MD

Dr. Drew Ramsey is a board certified psychiatrist, author, and mental health advocate. His work focuses on clinical excellence, nutritional psychiatry, male mental health and creative media. He is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and founded the Brain Food Clinic, a digital mental health clinical practice.

His work has been featured by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Lancet Psychiatry, The Today Show, BBC, and NPR and he has given three TEDx talks. He is co-author of the Antidepressant Food Scale and created the first e-courses on Nutritional Psychiatry education for the public and clinicians. His books Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety (Harperwave 2021), Eat Complete, 50 Shades of Kale, and The Happiness Diet explore the connections between mental health and nutrition. He is on the Advisory Board at Men’s Health, the Editorial Board at Medscape Psychiatry, and the Scientific Advisory Board of the anti-stigma nonprofit Bring Change To Mind. He lives in Jackson, Wyoming with his wife and two children. https://drewramseymd.com/ @DrewRamseyMD

Angela Roberson, RD

Angela Roberson, RD/LDN, DipACLM is the Population Health Dietitian for MedStar Health’s Collaborative Care Program (CCP) located at Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. MedStar’s CCP is an innovative outpatient clinic designed to address patients’ social determinants of health while providing bridge healthcare from time of hospital discharge to primary care or specialist follow-up. She is also the lead dietitian for MedStar’s flagship Food Rx clinic, the first-of-its-kind clinical nutrition program in Maryland offering at no cost fresh produce, medically tailored meals, diet education classes, and one-on-one nutrition counseling for a culturally diverse population of patients living with diabetes, heart failure, hypertension, and obesity. Her work has been featured on WYPR’s On the Record with Sheila Kast, and local television stations. Food Rx received national recognition as a leader in food-as-medicine programming at the USDA’s National Nutrition Security and Healthcare Summit following the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in 2022. In addition to being a registered dietitian, she is certified in lifestyle medicine through the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) and is a member of the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics (AND) and the National Organization of Black Interns and Dietitians (NOBIDAN).