WPHF Grant Fuels 4Roots Cooking Classes at CHWB

This year, $30,000 in WPHF grant funding is empowering the 4Roots’ Culinary Health Institute (CHI) to provide nutrition education at the Center for Health & Wellbeing (CHWB).

These specialized workshops and interactive classes reflect the Winter Park Health Foundation’s focus on expanding Food Is Health knowledge and resources throughout the community and helping residents build a foundation for lifelong health.

In addition to providing financial support for CHI’s programming at CHWB, WPHF is also delivering technical assistance to support CHI’s initiatives, including:

•     Program Planning and Marketing Services: Creative services, promotional support, and development of event-specific marketing materials.
•     Lifestyle Reset Events Support: Coverage of speaker fees, day-of event execution support, and guest experience oversight.  
•     CHWB Venue Usage: Free access to CHWB spaces, including the Nutrition Theatre and conference rooms. 

In June, as part of CHI’s Food as Medicine series, family and lifestyle medicine physician Dr. Arianna Becker and Chef Delaño Lambertclare led a brain health class featuring a live culinary demonstration along with expert-backed insights on eating to improve brain function.

Allison Brown and her husband attended the event after seeing family members struggle with Alzheimer’s disease and wanting to learn how they can prevent it in the future.

“I really like the chef, and it was really nice to have a medical professional there as well,” Allison said. “While he’s busy cooking, she had the opportunity to give advice about ways to improve your brain health and be healthier in general.” 

One way is the MIND diet (Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay), which focuses on plant-based foods, while limiting saturated fats and added sugars, and is shown through research to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. 

“There’s not one food that’s going to fix everything,” said Dr. Becker who is also a member of the WPHF Board of Trustees. “Having a variety of different fruits and vegetables—plant-based foods—in your diet is the key.”