About the Conference

The 2022 Teaching Kitchen Research Conference (TKRC) took place Tuesday and Wednesday October 18-19, 2022. This was the third international scientific conference devoted to original research involving teaching kitchens. It was hosted by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Department of Nutrition in association with the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative (TKC). The conference took place both virtually and at the Luskin Conference Center at UCLA in Los Angeles, CA.

The purpose of this scientific conference is to convene teaching kitchen researchers, program staff and stakeholders to review and highlight new techniques, research strategies, and data, to improve and widen the scope of effective teaching kitchen programs to promote scientific discovery, and in alignment with the NIH and Healthy People 2030, to improve the health of individuals, families, and communities of all demographics.

Who Should Attend?

Due to its interdisciplinary nature, TKRC is intended for a range of participants: clinical and basic science researchers, trainees, educators, physicians, nurses, registered dietitians, mental health providers, occupational and physical therapists, exercise physiologists, complementary and lifestyle medicine clinicians, insurance and hospital directors, agricultural and sustainability experts, foodservice executives and directors in hospitals and schools, chefs, those overseeing retirement facilities, representatives from the VA and military facilities and communities and more.

About Teaching Kitchens

Teaching Kitchens are more than kitchens, they are life-skills training laboratories where individuals receive practical, hands-on guidance to “eat, cook, move and think more healthfully”. Teaching Kitchens have been built in hospitals, medical schools, universities, corporate worksites, K-12 schools, Veterans Administration hospitals, retirement facilities, libraries, YMCA’s and many other organizations across the globe.
The COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly created the opportunity for teaching kitchen programs to establish novel, virtual, interactive programming opportunities, thereby extending the reach and potential for these programs to impact behaviors and outcomes of far greater numbers across a range of populations, bringing life-skills training directly into participants homes.

Learn more about teaching kitchens from the TKC

Funding for this conference was made possible (in part) by R13AT0011986 from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention by trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.