Food is Life, Food is Health is a summit bringing together chefs, physicians, allied healthcare professionals, nutrition scientists, healthy lifestyle researchers, sustainability experts, and food and foodservice business leaders. United by a shared mission to transform the future of personal and planetary health, attendees will learn and work side-by-side across disciplines, fostering collaboration and innovation to advance deliciousness and culinary insight as catalysts for positive change.
At its core,
the summit represents a groundbreaking collaboration between the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and Stanford Medicine. Bridging culinary arts, nutrition, healthcare, medicine, and sustainability, the gathering seeks to redefine how we understand and act upon the connections between food and health. It is a unique and impactful forum where evidence-based science meets culinary creativity, and where sustainable practices align with strategies for improving patient outcomes and public well-being.
The summit is more than a conference—
it is an experiential opportunity to engage with next-generation approaches to healthcare. Through immersive discussions, expert cooking demonstrations, and hands-on exploration of global food cultures and sustainability practices, participants gain insight into culinary strategies and techniques that make healthier food choices not only accessible, but also truly appealing.
Program Themes and Summit Experiences
The summit program will include a range of session formats that highlight these themes and areas of focused learning:
The Science of Personal and Planetary Health: Current and emerging scientific evidence supporting optimally healthy food choices; sustainable, plant-forward (or plant-rich) dietary patterns; and the evidence-backed connection between personal and planetary health.
Translation—From Clinical Practice to Professional Kitchens: The translation of that scientific evidence into guidance and strategies for physicians and allied medical/health professionals, chefs, and food business leaders that support:
Chronic disease prevention and enhanced wellness
Increased mental and physical performance
Healthy longevity and early childhood development
The future of healthcare-based culinary therapeutics within a larger context of food is medicine
Advances in health- and sustainability-focused foodservice concepts, menu design, and culinary training
Global Cultures and Flavors: World food cultures and plant-forward culinary traditions and their potential role as catalysts for advancing the wider adoption of healthy, sustainable, and delicious food choices through interactive sessions led by various experts including chefs representing countries around the world:
Flavor discovery labs and cultural insights from Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Mediterranean
Culinary demonstrations and experiences that enhance general understanding and can lead to more culturally relevant healthcare and health coaching
Cross-Disciplinary Teams for the Future: The summit offers physicians, chefs, and allied academics and professionals the chance to learn side-by-side in an immersive, culinary-centric educational environment. This collaboration models the future of patient care and highlights strategies to accelerate positive change across healthcare and food systems nationally and globally.
Practical, Delicious Solutions: Whether you join as a chef, physician, dietitian or other healthcare or culinary/food professional, the academic sessions and immersive experiences will emphasize solutions across a wide range of patient and customer needs and operational settings. Attendees will leave with inspiring insights on best practices, tested strategies, tips, and plenty of great recipes and flavor discoveries.
Continuing Education Credits
Physicians and allied health professionals: Continuing Medical Education (CME)/Continuing Education (CE) credits and certificates will be managed by the Stanford Center for Continuing Medical Education who will review the finalized agenda and determine which sessions are eligible for continuing education credit for healthcare professionals.
Details will be posted once available.
Chefs and food/culinary professionals: CEU credits and course completion certificates issued by the Culinary Institute of America. Culinary professionals will also have the opportunity to gain a Food is Life, Food is Health micro-credential.
More information here.
Complete information on continuing education credits and which professions are applicable is available here.
World-Class Setting: the Culinary Institute of America
The summit will be held at the Culinary Institute of America at Copia, in Napa, CA. Attendees will cook and learn in the CIA’s stadium-sized Hestan Teaching Kitchen, conference theaters and culinary demonstration spaces, and expansive culinary gardens. The program will include plenary sessions, seminars and workshops, farm-to-table tastings, flavor discovery immersions, hands-on culinary experiences, field trips, and memorable meals that foster collegial exchange across disciplines.