The Teaching Kitchen

By Amanda Jepson | Categories: | Comments Off on The Teaching Kitchen

Boston Medical Center’s (BMC’s) Teaching Kitchen is a leader in the Food is Medicine movement. One of the country’s first hospital-based culinary medicine programs, the kitchen has expanded to the local food system through partnerships with food growers, makers, and retailers. The Teaching Kitchen also helps combat nutrition-related health disparities by enhancing access to fresh produce and medically tailored foods, targeting behavior change to improve health outcomes, and leading research and best practices to enhance the field. The Teaching Kitchen supports BMC’s mission to deliver exceptional care without exception.

As the largest level I trauma center and safety net hospital in the Northeast, BMC serves a community that is racially diverse—45 percent non-Hispanic white or other, 25 percent Black, 20 percent Latino, 10 percent Asian—and under-resourced, with 72 percent of patients reported as low-income. The Teaching Kitchen is clinically integrated into the medical care model, serving pediatric and adult patients through prevention and disease management, and offers programming to staff, affiliated students, and the greater Boston community. The program is funded through philanthropy and operated by a manager who oversees culinary dietitians and partners with the senior manager to implement research and population health initiatives. Managers report to the senior director of support services, and operational costs are embedded within the department’s budget.

The Teaching Kitchen is an ancillary service to the health system, partnering with departments including outpatient nutrition, endocrinology, cardiology, and pediatrics to facilitate shared medical appointments and group visits. These partnerships enhance care through hands-on learning and peer support. In addition, the Teaching Kitchen partners with community organizations like Nubian Markets and the South End Community Health Center to offer services in community settings and foster community-led programs and interventions. To encourage innovation and future practice, the Teaching Kitchen also partners with Boston University to provide medical, dietetic, and dental students with culinary nutrition training and a formal elective through the School of Gastronomy.

The Teaching Kitchen offers an average of 300 classes per year for more than 2,000 patients and staff. Classes are held in-person classes, virtually through Zoom, or a combination of both. Class surveys suggest high approval rates, and reports indicate improved dietary patterns, culinary skills, and overall health. The Teaching Kitchen already has facilitated clinical trials, and results will be published.

To learn more about BMC’s Teaching Kitchen, please visit this link.