The Institute of Culinary Education’s new Health-Supportive Culinary Arts career training program promotes nutrition, wellness and sustainability with a vegetable-forward curriculum inspired by the Natural Gourmet Institute. Health-supportive cuisine has the power to heal and can appeal to plant-based, vegetarian and vegan lifestyles while including instructional exposure to proteins.
The Natural Gourmet Institute used specific criteria for making mindful and deliberate decisions when sourcing ingredients: whole, fresh, seasonal, traditional, balanced, local and delicious. These seven principles of food selection promote a sustainable food system with regard for natural resources and people while empowering chefs and cooks to lead the conversation about food, wellness and health. This mission is at the foundation of ICE’s new curriculum, which incorporates whole foods, nutrition education, plant-based cooking and meals that heal. The principles extend to the pastry modules, which include flourless, vegan and gluten-free desserts and breads, as well as traditional pastries.
The Health-Supportive Culinary Arts program consists of 632 instructional hours. Students are in the classroom for 432 hours and then complete an externship over the course of 200 hours, acquiring real-world experience in the culinary field. To provide flexibility, we run several schedule options for our Health-Supportive Culinary Arts diploma, including morning, afternoon and part-time schedules. Choose from schedules that meet from two to five times per week.