Registered Dietitian Nutritionists as Leaders in Lifestyle and Culinary Medicine

Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) are uniquely positioned to lead in Lifestyle Medicine, Culinary Medicine and Food is Medicine, overlapping initiatives currently gaining momentum in health care. To become a credentialed practitioner, RDNs must demonstrate competency as outlined in The Scope and Standards of Practice defined by the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR), the credentialing agency for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Many CDR competencies align with the interventional and operational components necessary to deliver and direct effective Lifestyle Medicine (LM) and Culinary Medicine (CM) initiatives. Capitalizing on the skills and expertise of RDNs trained in LM and CM is an effective strategy to address the Quintuple Aim of better health care outcomes, lower cost, improved patient satisfaction, improved provider wellbeing and the advancement of health equity. Successful examples like Cooking with Plants, Trinity Health Ann Arbor's virtual CM series, showcase the positive impact of RDN-led CM initiatives on culinary literacy and health behavior change. This article provides an overview of the Cooking with Plants program and practical guidance for initiating similar programs at other institutions. Guidance includes strategies for assessing community needs, identifying funding sources, engaging stakeholders, and developing and evaluating curriculum.